Monday, Jun. 09, 1924

Loops

Looping is one of the simplest airplane maneuvers. The pilot dives his ship steeply towards the earth and gains tremendous speed. He then turns his elevator or horizontal up, so that the rush of air bears downward on the tail of his plane. Naturally the nose of the ship goes up, the plane climbs, the nose goes lighter and higher and for a brief moment of time the ship is flying upside down, only to dive again and resume its normal attitude. When correctly executed, the loop is seen as a beautiful, smooth curve in the sky. But it is a wise precaution to have the safety belt well buckled when flying upside down, for plane and pilot may suddenly part company. To perform a series of loops, when the trick is once learned, is but a question of endurance and of a head that does not grow dizzy when earth and sky seem to revolve in a gigantic circle before one's eyes. Still, very few pilots could emulate the exploit of Madame Adrienne Bolland, French aviatrix who last week looped the loop 212 times, beating her own record of 98 loops-for-women. Only Maynard, famed U. S. sky pilot, and Fronval, the French aviator, have done better than this. Fronval holds the world's record with 962 loops.