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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



can tell pretty closely what is flying speed 

 because of the work on the rollers. It's 

 the same way with all the other students, 

 only I know it now from my own ex- 

 perience. 



And this morning I began to realize 

 that my ioo minutes at Newport News 

 was invaluable. I not only found out 

 some of the tricks of a master hand 

 (Carlstrom), but also developed a bit of 

 confidence in the air, and air sense, with- 

 out which I could have gotten into trouble 

 this morning. 



My bumpy ride this morning is abso- 

 lutely invaluable. I'll probably never 

 have so much trouble in the air again, be- 

 cause a fast machine, or even a Bleriot 

 with a good motor, would hardly have 

 noticed those puffs. It was a bit risky, I 

 guess, or the head monitor would not 

 have been worried ; but now that it's over 

 I know a lot more. 



A FLYER IN A BEAN PATCH 



August 25, 1917. 



I started for my altitude test three 

 days ago. The requirement, is one hour 

 above 2,000 meters. I got to 1,950 meters 

 and one cylinder refused to fire, so I 

 was forced to come down. 



The next morning I tried again; got 

 to 900 meters and the magneto ceased to 

 function, thereby stopping all progress. 

 I glided towards home, but didn't have 

 quite the height to make the piste, so had 

 to land in a near-by field, just dodging 

 a potato patch. A flock of curious sheep 

 came around and carefully examined the 

 machine, getting mixed up in the wires 

 of the open tail construction and leaving 

 considerable wool thereon. 



When the mechanics eventually got 

 the motor going, I started off; didn't 

 get quite in the air before the motor went 

 bad, and then I ran into a bean patch, 

 gathering about a bushel of beans with 

 the same tail wires. Yesterday morning 

 I tried again ; climbed to 2,000 in 14 min- 

 utes and to 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) 

 in 40 minutes. 



I went up through some light clouds, 

 and when I got to 3,500, the top of my 

 recording barograph, more clouds had 

 formed and I was practically shut off 

 from the earth, nothing but a sea of 



clouds below me — a very beautiful sight. 

 One other machine was in sight, far be- 

 low me, but on top of the clouds. 



Not wanting to get lost, I came down 

 through the clouds and stayed out my 

 hour, just above 2,000 and below the 

 clouds, where the air was very much 

 churned up, keeping me very busy. Just 

 as soon as the time was up I came down, 

 with a pair of chilled feet, making the 

 2,000 meters in five minutes to the 

 ground. No work since then on account 

 of bad weather. 



This morning I attended my first Cath- 

 olic 'funeral, that of the commandant of 

 the school, who was the victim of a mid- 

 air collision, a very unusual accident. 

 The other machine got down safely, 

 though badly smashed. Everybody in 

 camp attended the funeral in the chapel 

 of the artillery camp next door. I under- 

 stood none of the service, but the music 

 by a tenor and a 'cello was excellent. 

 While the cortege was going down the 

 hill to the cemetery, a Nieuport circled 

 overhead very low for half an hour or 

 more and dropped a wreath. It was a 

 very impressive ceremony. 



I expect to start on triangles and petit s 

 voyages in a few days. When they are 

 done, I will be a breveted flyer in the 

 French army. Then comes perfections 

 work and acrobacy ; so it will be quite 

 a while yet for me. 



THE WILD MAN IN THE NIEUPORT 



September 1, 1917 



The wild man in the Nieuport was out 

 again this morning giving some one a 

 joy ride. There is a long straight stretch 

 of road in front of our piste and he 

 came down that several times, a nasty, 

 puffy wind blowing which bothered him 

 not at all, flying only two or three feet 

 off the ground. 



In front of the piste is a telephone wire 

 crossing the road. He came along the 

 road 100 miles an hour until almost on 

 top of the wire, and jumped up just in 

 time to clear it by a few feet — really 

 beautiful work. He goes all over the 

 surrounding country flying low, hopping 

 over trees and houses — sometimes turn- 

 ing up sideways to slip between two trees 

 a bit too close together to fly through — 



