 | CHAPTER XV.
THE ELEMENT OF DANGER. Flying Machines: Construction and Operation: A Practical Book Which Shows, in Illustrations, Working Plans and Text, How to Build and Navigate the Modern Airship. |  |
Two Fields of Safety.
At least one prominent aviator has declared that there are two fields of safety—one close to the ground, and the other well up in the air. In the first-named the fall will be a slight one with little chance of the operator being seriously hurt. From the field of high altitude the the descent will be gradual, as a rule, the planes of the machine serving to break the force of the fall. With a cool-headed operator in control the aeroplane may be even guided at an angle (about 1 to 8) in its descent so
Such an experience, of course, is far from pleasant, but it is by no means so dangerous as might appear. There is more real danger in falling from an elevation of 75 or 100 feet than there is from 1,000 feet, as in the former case there is no chance for the machine to serve as a parachute—its contact with the ground comes too quickly.
| CHAPTER XV.
THE ELEMENT OF DANGER. Flying Machines: Construction and Operation: A Practical Book Which Shows, in Illustrations, Working Plans and Text, How to Build and Navigate the Modern Airship. | |