rules, that the
engine should be stopped in this altitude flight when at the maximum
height, and that the descent should be made in a complete vol-plane,
without once re-starting the motor. As originally framed, indeed, the
rule as to the control of the engine in this altitude test was the
same as in regard to the distance flights--_i.e._, that it should be
stopped "at or before the moment of touching the ground." What the
present rule means, in this respect, is that the pupil must be really
proficient at making a vol-plane, without any aid at all from his
engine, before he can hope to pass the test; and such a proved
skill--say in the making of his first cross-country flight, should his
engine fail suddenly--may spell the difference between a safe or a
dangerous landing.

The test flights for the certificate, undertaken only in such weather
conditions as the pupil's instructor may think suitable, are watched
by official observers appointed by the Royal Aero Club. It is the
business of these observers, when the prescribed flights have been
made, to send in a written report concerning them to the Club; and
acting on this report, after it has been considered and shown to be in
order, the Club issues to the pupil his numbered certificate. With the
successful passing of his tests the pupil's tuition is at an end. He
is regarded no longer as a novice, but as a qualified pilot.

CHAPTER VII

PERILS OF THE AIR

There are people, very many people, who still regard flying as an
undertaking of an unreasonable peril, essayed mainly by those who are
in quest of money, notoriety, or sensation at any price. Such
people--still to be met with--have one mental picture, and one only,
of the flight of an aeroplane. They imagine a man in the air--and this
mere idea of altitude makes them shudder; and they picture this man in
a frail apparatus of wood and wire, capable of breaking to pieces at
any moment; or even if it does not break, needing an incessant
movement of levers to maintain it in a safe equilibrium; while they
reckon also that, should the engine of the machine suffer any
breakdown, the craft will drop to earth like a stone. Prejudice dies
hard; harder no doubt in England than in other countries. There are
still people, not few of them but many, who would be ready to declare,
offhand, that one aeroplane flight in six ends in a disaster.

It is a truism, but one that has a peculiar truth in aviation, to say
that hi