This sort of thing, if practised constantly, will not only develop an expert eye for diagnosis of faults, but will also greatly assist in impressing upon the memory the characteristics and possible troubles of the various types of aeroplanes.
Mishandling on the Ground.—This is the cause of a lot of unnecessary damage. The golden rule to observe is, Produce no Bending Stresses.
Nearly all the wood in an aeroplane is designed to take merely the stress of direct compression, and it cannot be bent safely. Therefore, in packing an aeroplane up from the ground, or in pulling or pushing it about, be careful to stress it in such a way as to produce, as far as possible, only direct compression stresses. For instance, if it is necessary to support the lifting surface, then the packing should be arranged to come directly under the struts so that they may take the stress in the form of compression for which they are designed. Such supports should be covered with soft packing in order to prevent the fabric from becoming damaged.
When pulling an aeroplane along, if possible, pull from the top of the undercarriage struts. If necessary to pull from elsewhere, then do so by grasping the interplane struts as low down as possible. Never pull by means of wires.
Never lay fabric-covered parts upon a concrete floor. Any slight movement will cause the fabric to scrape over the floor with resultant damage.
Struts, spars, etc., should never be left about the floor, as in such position they are likely to become scored. I have already explained the importance of protecting the outside fibres of the wood. Remember also that wood becomes distorted easily. This particularly applies to interplane struts. If there are no proper racks to stand them in, then the best plan is to lean them up against the wall in as near a vertical position as possible.
Time.—Learn to know the time necessary to complete any of the various rigging jobs. This is really important. Ignorance of this will lead to bitter disappointments in civil life; and, where Service flying is concerned, it will, to say the least of it, earn unpopularity with senior officers, and fail to develop respect and good work where men are concerned.
The Aeroplane Shed.—This should be kept as clean and orderly as possible. A clean, smart shed produces briskness, energy, and pride of work. A dirty, disorderly shed nearly always produces slackness and poor quality of work, lost tools, and mislaid material.