AERONAUTICS: Silver Wings

From Icarus on, famous flyers have usually been less than 30 years of age —famous pilots, that is. But it must be remembered that it was an older man, Daedalus, an engineer and a sculptor, who designed the Icarian monoplane and successfully flew it from Crete to Italy.

This incident in the early history of flying is recalled by the recent feat of Major General Mason M. Patrick. General Patrick, who had been transferred from the Engineers Corps to the Air Service only two years earlier, is 60 years of age. He is now Chief of the Army Air Service, and in that position has many times taken occasion to use aeroplanes on his tours of inspection. Some time ago, in order better to familiarize himself with his duties, he began the regular flying course, and about three months ago formed the resolve of actually qualifying as a pilot. The fact that he was somewhat over the usual flying age did not deter him. He mastered the technical mechanics of the aeroplane and took his tests in cross-country flying, taking off, landing. A few days ago in a de Haviland plane he took and successfully passed the final tests, including all the ” acrobatic ” maneuvers— loop, roll, tail spin, Immelmann turn, falling-leaf, spin, spiral side slip, forward slip in landing, etc. At a luncheon of the Army and Navy Club in Washington, General Patrick received the silver wings of a flying pilot—the only Major General who had ever attained that distinction.