hman, I am, and if my coat comes off---- Yes, Irish, I
said. I used to come from Egypt, but I've got naturalized since the War
began."

Then the Air Speed Indicator catches the eye of the Pilot. "Good
enough," he says as he gently deflects the Elevator and points the nose
of the Aeroplane upwards in search of the elusive Best Climbing Angle.

"Ha! ha!" shouts the Drift, growing stronger with the increased Angle
of Incidence. "Ha! ha!" he laughs to the Thrust. "Now I've got you. Now
who's Master?"

And the Propeller shrieks hysterically, "Oh! look at me. I'm a
helicopter. That's not fair. Where's Efficiency?" And she can only sadly
reply, "Yes, indeed, but you see we're a Compromise."

And the Drift has hopes of reaching the Maximum Angle of Incidence
and vanquishing the Thrust and the Lift. And he grows very bold as he
strangles the Thrust; but the situation is saved by the Propeller,
who is now bravely helicopting skywards, somewhat to the chagrin of
Efficiency.

"Much ado about nothing," quotes the Aeroplane learnedly. "Compromise
or not, I'm climbing a thousand feet a minute. Ask the Altimeter. He'll
confirm it."

And so indeed it was. The vacuum box of the Altimeter was steadily
expanding under the decreased pressure of the rarefied air, and by means
of its little levers and its wonderful chain no larger than a hair it
was moving the needle round the gauge and indicating the ascent at the
rate of a thousand feet a minute.

And lo! the Aeroplane has almost reached the clouds! But what's this?
A sudden gust, and down sinks one wing and up goes the other. "Oh, my
Horizontal Equivalent!" despairingly call the Planes: "it's eloping with
the Lift, and what in the name of Gravity will happen? Surely there was
enough scandal in the Factory without this, too!" For the lift varies
with the horizontal equivalent of the planes, so that if the aeroplane
tilts sideways beyond a certain angle, the lift becomes less than the
weight of the machine, which must then fall. A fall in such a position
is known as a "side-slip."

But the ever-watchful Pilot instantly depresses one aileron, elevating
the other, with just a touch of the rudder to keep on the course, and
the Planes welcome back their precious Lift as the Aeroplane flicks back
to its normal position.

"Bit bumpy here under these clouds," is all the Pilot says as he heads
for a gap between them, and the next minute the Aeroplane shoots up into
a new world of space.