The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1915-11-13
SHUTDOWN SIGHTS
AT BIG AERODR0ME
'Lordy, It's Cold Up There" Says
Aviator; Air Fleet Perfectly
Organized; Is Big Aid to
French Army
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS,
U. P. staff correspondent.

ohoih AOh CoBOuut
WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN
CHAMPAGNE, Oct. 22.-(By mail.)-
The Americans in the French aviation
corps are making good, the air fleet
commandant here told me today.
There are six of them left; one Jimmy
Bach of Utah, having recently been
taken prisoner by the Germans.
Among the others are Elliott Cow
den, wealthy Bostonian and a good
polo player; Bert Hall of Texas, lean,
lank and goodnatured; Billy, Thaw OF
Pittsburgh, Norman Prince and some
others. I saw Hail and Cowden today.
Both are fast cruisers" flying the
swiftest machines in .the squadrilla.
Georges Carpenter, the famous
French middleweight youngster, is a
member of the same group.
visited the aerodrome towards sun
down. One by one the birds were
coming home to roost, circling over
the field, yolplaning down, turning and
rolling back on the ground under their
own power. Down from one OF the
tiniest Of these-a beautiful, short
winged creation in pearl-gray and blue
stepped Hail. Seating himself on a
runner he was helped out Of his fur
lined overalls, Esquimaux boots and
other Arctic overwear.
sGee." he exclaimed. walking up
and warming his hands before BEN
zine flare lighted to guide belated
pilots home. "Lordy,' but it's cold up
there,"
Il thought 7 was going to be late"
he said, Il got out pretty far. 1t is
no joke landing in one of these
little rapid boys like mine, even in the
daytime And if it is getting lark
the machine capsizes three-fourths Of
the time Leon Hourlier and his
brother-in-law, Leon Comes, both IA
nous French bicycle racers, we're
killed in the same machine only the
other day on this very field in just
such stupid landing accident. Pretty
tough to escape the Germans only to
get smashed before your own door,
eh?"
The French air fleet is now as per-
fectly organized and in much the same
way as is the high seas fleet. 1t has
its powerful two-engined, double pro-
PEELED planes, corresponding to the
dreadnaughts. They can mount to
any altitude quickly, taking consider
able high explosive in addition to pilot
and observer. There are super-dread-
naughts, some with three planes and
enormous double engines carrying
bombs enough to blow up a small
town in addition to cannon and ma
chine guns. There are scouts, coast
defense" planes, escort cruisers for
the slower, bigger, mightier air navi-
gators.
This is big change from the first
days of the war when an aeroplane
performed any service its pilot was
ordered to do. Hall, for example,
never carries explosives. His duty,
with his swift, short-winged biplane, is
either to do scout service far behind
the German front, or accompany a
bombarding fleet and, like destroyer
at sea, ward off the enemy. When
you read of the French air fleet bonn
harding some position or other in Ger
man territory. you may know that
these lightning fast biplanes accom-
pany it, scouting gin advance and pro-
tecting it on flanks, rear, above and
below.
Other aeroplanes specialize on pho
tographing. still others cruise behind
their own lines. coast defending. chas-
ing or attacking with machine guns
any German planes coming over.
These "chasers" are so constructed
that they can train their machine guns
on the enemy from any angle up.
down, fore or aft. All these machines