Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-10-22
AVIATION SERVICE MEN
TELL OF EXPERIENCES
Members OF Royal Flying Corps
Have Some Thrilling
Adventures.
zEPPELINs FIRE BLlNDLY
Simple Enough to Go Up AT Night,
but Considerably Harder to DC
scehd Without Hitting Chimney
on "Stenfing" IL Big Tree,

LONDON, october 2l.-"It's all right
so long rs you can't see EN- or hear
en- said Tommy" brennan. OF the
Royal Flying Corps. hut any man who
tells yOu he can fly over an Archie
and sct'a flaming onion right ahead Of
him without duckins and wishing they
wouldn't come SO close or make so
mnci, noise. newer has been up in an
acroplane. Take /, from me-"
fcs.' put in Gilruy. land everytime
YOU duck your old w:ngcr ducks with
YOU AS Bren over there says. 1t
wouldn't be so bad IL YOU couldn't see
and hear EN-. Generally speaking, you
don't hear them unless one happens to
break within thirty yards or so Of
you. It's when YOU get down close to
them and look right down at them
spittih:; fire. "a; YOU, that's when you
have got To nave every nerve in your
body turned 20 the minute"
'I'll never forget the first time they
got close to me-" declared Boy" Tylie
My only thought was that never
wonld shoot a pheasant again. / knew
exactly how "A bird must feel when a
hunter opens fire
Brennan wore upon his left sleeve
the gold stripe Of the wounded. "G.l"
had been on the official list OF the kill
Ell IN action some weeks ago. but some
now or other came back 10 life. When
brennan was init" and finally came
down safely within MS own lines. it
was found there were no less than
eighty pcrfora,ions in his wings
IL was 50 Interested in looking over
their trenches guess got a little
too low. he explained
INTERESTING TO LISTEN
TO THEIR EXPERIENCES
There is nothing more interesting in
AL London than TO sit through n long
autumn evening talking TO the young
sters Of the wonderful aviation service
Great Britain almost miraculously has
built up since lii. war began.
We've got the Germans now where
they have 10 hre hlindly or shoot by
the map These .iutycpid men of the
air will tell y,u.. Hrf what use are
Their wonderful guns II thcy don't
Know VIVA ;hcy are shooting att
ihcN d"'ft oar" send a plane over our
lines. They don, even dare approach
The minute they show themselves we
have an overwhelming number OF ma
chimes to send after them. ana the
beat II for nom. again rs fast as they
OF our new positions The.: batteries
have been driven from the heights and
'a"y can't observe. II is Il hig differ
c,icc from the first days o. the war"
ASsoc!aiins much with Britain's ny-
ins men one soon Will learn that an
"Arch'ba IA usually called "Archie"
Tor snort. IS an ant!aircraG gun.
Archie bnrks at YOU" said Brsn-
man lie goes woof; woof,- wuor' He
isnt comfortable to lister TO-. either;
but It's when sou get down a little
nearer 10 earth and the machine guns
sc, 10 working that Won feel you have
got l" 40 what you set out TO do right
quickly and get started 10 some
Iuicicr spot Just as last as tile air
viii get out OF your way and Lot you
through. You can't Imagine how much
that old atmosphere gets In your way.
when YOU are really in hurry
when you get on spanking term.
with a machine gun you know that 1t
talks with 4 putt, putt. putt" The
ordinary hand rife. which often takes
shot at you when you get too close
10 the trenches. goes crack. crack,
crack JUS; as every one expects a
rife 10 go.
"A flaming onion? Well. that looks
Tor all the world Ike an ciSht-cundle-
cover electric bulb coming ut you.
Then al! OF a sudden il breaks into nice
little ribbons OF lire that dart and foat
through the air Ike many blazing
serpcnts. They are very disagreeable,
these onions. Their one desire In life
is TO set you ablaze and explode your
petrol tank.
One thing the American always has
TO remember over here Is that gasoline.
or just plain gas" as the motorists
and flying men call 1t at home. has no
place In the English lexicon. 1t IS
petrol" just as lieutenant, although
spelled lieutenant. is pronounced lief
enant"
Several of the young wing" sub