naval and military airmen to
head-quarters. But there is such an accomplishment as reading between
the lines.

The flying men fall naturally into two classes--pilots and observers.
The latter, of course, act as aerial gunners. The pilots have to pass
through three, and observers two, successive courses of training in
aviation. Instruction is very detailed and thorough as befits a career
which, in addition to embracing the endless problems of flight, demands
knowledge of wireless telegraphy, photography, and machine gunnery.

Many of the officers are drafted into the Royal Flying Corps from other
branches of the Service, but there are also large numbers of civilians
who take up the career. In their case they are first trained as cadets,
and, after qualifying for commissions, start their training in aviation
at one of the many schools which have now sprung up in all parts of the
country.

When the actual flying men are counted in thousands some idea may be
gained of the great organization required for the Corps--the schools
and flying grounds, the training and activities of the mechanics,
the workshops and repair shops, the storage of spare parts, the motor
transport, &c. As in other departments of the Service, women have come
forward and are doing excellent and most responsible work, especially in
the motor-transport section.

A very striking feature of the Corps is the extreme youth of the
members, many of the most daring fighters in the air being mere boys of
twenty.

The Corps has the very pick of the youth and daring and enterprise of
the country. In the days of the old army there existed certain unwritten
laws of precedence as between various branches of the Service. If such
customs still prevail it is certain that the very newest arm would take
pride of place. The flying man has recaptured some of the glamour and
romance which encircled the knight-errant of old. He breathes the very
atmosphere of dangerous adventure. Life for him is a series of thrills,
any one of which would be sufficient to last the ordinary humdrum
citizen for a lifetime. Small wonder that the flying man has captured
the interest and affection of the people, and all eyes follow these
trim, smart, desperadoes of the air in their passage through our cities.

As regards the work of the flying man the danger curve seems to be
changing. On the one hand the training is much more severe and exacting
than formerly was the case, and so carries a g