Bob’s mentality was of that type. Whether his mind worked through what is called instinct, or whether he put together many things he had learned about airplanes, or whether he worked through a chain of reasoning from beginning to end in a fraction of a second does not matter.
The important thing was his action.
In an airplane which is falling with wingtips toward sky and earth, the ailerons which usually tilt it are practically useless, because it has no forward movement sufficient to bring the air against the leading edges of the wings for lift, or to press against the ailerons to cause them to function properly.
Furthermore, when the ship is falling “on its side” the elevators which in level flight serve to lift or to drop the nose, are no longer elevators; they, because of the position of the ship, are really the rudders, while the rudder, because it is then parallel to the ground, assumes the position and functions of the elevators.
But Bob knew, in a flash, from the action of the ship, from the free movement of the rudder bar, that the rudder cable had come loose or had snapped.
Bob knew, furthermore, that unless he could drop the nose, “give her the gun,” and thus—by partly diving instead of falling sideways, and by partly using the propeller pull—could regain flying speed, Lang could not get the craft under control and save them from a crash.
There were seconds, not more, between them and eternity!
That rudder must be operated.
It must be done before they came too close to earth to make the maneuvers, necessary to a safe landing, possible.
Even as he called to Lang, “Give her the gun!” his hand smashed through the thin side of the cabin wall, down where it came together with the sturdy, but light plates of the flooring.