THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



89 



"Then we started to come down. First 

 I saw the earth directly below through 

 the planes on the left. Then the horizon 

 made a sudden wild lurch and Newport 

 News appeared directly below on my 

 right. This continued for a little while 

 and then we started down at an angle of 

 about 30 degrees to the perpendicular, 

 turning as we went. I later learned that 

 Carlstrom had executed a few steep 

 banks, or sharp turns, and then spiraled 

 down. It ended with a very pretty land- 

 ing, following with a series of banks to 

 check speed. 



"Flying, from my first impression, is a 

 very fascinating game and the one I want 

 to stay with for a while. I have signed 

 up for 100 minutes in the air. While this 

 100 minutes will not make me a flier by 

 any means, I think it is well worth the 

 while, in that it gives me a little element 

 of certainty in going abroad. I will know, 

 if all goes well, that I am not unable to 

 fly." 



The next day he wrote : 



"Two flights this morning; 25 minutes 

 in toto. The greatest sport I ever had. 

 Wonderful work. I did most of the work 

 after we got up a safe distance." 



Having obtained a certificate of 100 

 minutes' flight and passed the necessary 

 physical examination, he left for France, 

 arriving at Bordeaux May 31, and soon 

 reported at Avord for training. 



walcott's letters home 



Bscole d' Aviation Militaire, 



Avord, Cher, France, 

 Friday, July 13, 19 17. 



You see, it's Friday, the thirteenth, my 

 lucky day, and I'm happy because the 

 work is going well. First, I'll tell you 

 about a smash I had a week or so ago. 



The roller, or rouleur, class which I 

 smashed in has the same machine as those 

 that fly with a 45 P motor. Only it is 

 throttled down, and we are supposed to 

 keep it on the ground — just about ready 

 to fly, but not quite getting up — a speed 

 of about 30 m. p. h. 



When there is the slightest wind we 

 cannot roll, because the wind turns the 

 tail around and swings the machine in a 

 circle — a wooden horse — cheval de bois. 



I rode about the end of the list Saturday, 

 and the wind had come up as the day got 

 on. Work stops at 8.30 a. m. always, be- 

 cause there's too much wind. 



My first sortie, or trip, went O K, with 

 a considerable breeze on the tail, but on 

 the second there was too much wind, and 

 after I got going pretty fast, around she 

 went. The wind caught under the inside 

 wing and up it went. Smash went the 

 outside wheel and a crackle of bursting 

 wood. All the front framework of wood 

 that holds the motor was smashed — a 

 pretty bad break. The monitor was a bit 

 mad and talked to me a bit in French. 



The next morning I was called in to 

 see the chief of the Bleriot School, St. de 

 Chavannes, a very nice officer. He told 

 me that my monitor was not satisfied 

 with me ; that he had told me to do some- 

 thing (cut the motor when the machine 

 started to turn) three separate times, and 

 that each time I had intentionally dis- 

 obeyed; that if anything like that hap- 

 pened again I would be "radiated" (dis- 

 charged from the school). 



That was quite the first I had ever 

 heard of it, and I was so mad at the 

 monitor that I could have kicked him in 

 the head. I tried to explain to the lieu- 

 tenant, but he never heard a word; so I 

 just gurgled with wrath and didn't do 

 anything. But yesterday we got another 

 monitor, who is a different sort. 



The class after rouleur is decollet; it 

 is the same machine, but one gets off the 

 ground about a meter or two, then slacks 

 up on the motor and settles to the earth. 

 It is strictly forbidden to decollet in the 

 rouleur class. This morning I had a 

 sortie in the rouleur, and all of a sudden 

 noticed that I was in the air a bit ; man- 

 aged to keep it straight and get out of the 

 air without smashing. The monitor said 

 nothing, so I decolleed on all the sorties. 



When I got out the monitor explained 

 that it was strictly forbidden to go off 

 the ground in the rouleur class ; that I 

 shouldn't have done it, and then asked 

 me if I would like to go up to the other 

 class. Whereupon, consenting, I am now 

 in the decollet class, leaving 16 rather 

 peeved Americans who arrived in the 

 rouleur the same time I did, who can 

 perform in the rouleur quite as well as I 



