, and, the Observer swinging round the propeller, the engine is
awake again and slowly ticking over. Quickly the Observer climbs into
his seat in front of the Pilot, and, the latter slightly opening the
throttle, the Aeroplane leisurely rolls over the ground towards the
other end of the field, from which the ascent will be made.

Arriving there the Pilot turns the Aeroplane in order to face the wind
and thus secure a quick "get-off." Then he opens the throttle fully and
the mighty voice of the Engine roars out "Now see me clear that hedge!"
and the Aeroplane races forward at its minimum angle of incidence. Tail
up, and with ever-increasing speed, it rushes towards the hedge under
the lee of which it has lately been at rest; and then, just as the
Observer involuntarily pulls back an imaginary "joy-stick," the Pilot
moves the real one and places the machine at its best climbing angle.
Like a living thing it responds, and instantly leaves the ground,
clearing the hedge like a--well, like an Aeroplane with an excellent
margin of lift. Upwards it climbs with even and powerful lift, and the
familiar scenes below again gladden the eyes of the Pilot. Smaller and
more and more squat grow the houses and hills; more and more doll-like
appear the fields which are clearly outlined by the hedges; and soon the
country below is easily identified with the map. Now they can see the
river before them and a bay of the sea which must be crossed or skirted.
The fog still lingers along the course of the river and between the
hills, but is fast rolling away in grey, ghost-like masses. Out to sea
it obscures the horizon, making it difficult to be sure where water ends
and fog begins, and creating a strange, rather weird effect by which
ships at a certain distance appear to be floating in space.

Now the Aeroplane is almost over the river, and the next instant it
suddenly drops into a "hole in the air." With great suddenness it
happens, and for some two hundred feet it drops nose-down and tilted
over sideways; but the Pilot is prepared and has put his craft on an
even keel in less time than it takes to tell you about it; for well he
knows that he must expect such conditions when passing over a shore
or, indeed, any well-defined change in the composition of the earth's
surface. Especially is this so on a hot and sunny day, for then the warm
surface of the earth creates columns of ascending air, the speed of the
ascent depending upon the compositi