Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1916-07-06
SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE
WHAT AN AVIATOR DOES

! by an aviator in the allied army,
formerly employed in an American
factory. Names are of course omit
ted but the writer is we'll known to
some Reflector readers)
Well, old chap, you want to hear
about my latest crash; really there's
not much to tell, crashes are fire.
quent enough out here and the only
difference between my crash and
the average is that in a pile up as
bad as mine 1t is customary for the
fool pilot to break his neck, where
as | only bent mine La Belle France
was awfully good to me for she re-
served beautifully soft patch of
mud for me to bury my head and
neck in, 80 that let up the shock
gradually Perhaps I'm being re-
served for a more spectacular end,
although it must have been quite
a sight for they tell me | came
down the aerodrome with the wind
behind 60 Like the wrath of
God"
| had been away from my base for
over two weeks plotting this brand
new battleplane from the maker
place in Paris; l had been delayed
by various accidents and by afro
cious weather for over a week at
Amiens when this first decent day
came was full out" to deliver the
goods and when | got home | was
SO tickled that l played the fool in
the air for ten minutes or so over
the aerodrome, doing vertical dives
and such stunts with big machine,
and in this way lost my sense of
speed, also | made a guess at the
direction Of the wind, instead of
looking carefully for a smoke sign
and l landed down wind Ga fatal
mistake in ayiation) landed too
fast, tore across the aerodrome and
saw that l. should hit the embank-
ment, decided to jump it, put both
engines full on and went for ii full
speed and when l came to lift over
it, l missed clearing it by about a
foot. The landing chassis wheels
were wiped off, the machine hus-
tied across the road at about 20
miles and turned turtle down the
other side of embankment-a com
plete wreck $4,000 all gone to h
as you might say.
| believe the authorities figure
that 1t costs $4,000 to train a
first class war pilot. l guess I've
reached about 60 per cent of that
mark. This is my fourth, the others
were not serious affairs, although
two of 'em were on machines fully
loaded with Zepp-trafing bombs;
those two | crashed one after the
other trying to get off rotten aer-
drOme on very gusty morning for
the sunrise zepp patrol. quit after
the second attempt I'm for moder-
alton in all things, especially be-
fore breakfast; this heroic stuff on
an empty stomach is awful, the S.
P. C. A. (society prevention cruelty
to aviators) should put stop to it.
I'm going to agitate for aerial cof-
fee stalls after this bloody war is
over-yes, sir. AS little side |
light on the war game l may tell
you that | had not been in hospital |
more than an hour or so when two |
Hun aeroplanes sailed overhead and |
dropped five or six bombs within a
few hundred yards of our quarters.
Beastly inconsiderate of EN-
thought at the time. I felt very
much like one of my bored English |
friends, | believe he's duke or a
lord or something like that. He
said one bitterly cold day last win
ter, "You know, l think there ought
to be closed season for war, old I
chap, like there is for fishing and
game shooting; it's so uncomforta-
BILE this weather" felt that way in
hospital and always felt that when
flying over that horrible North sea
in freezing weather, about twenty
minutes in that water would finish
anybody but an Eskimo. That's the
only time I've really considered
letting the Huns call it the German
ocean. I very nearly decided they
might have the blamed thing.
Paris Well you know all about
Paris. except that you haven't seen
Paris in war time. The workshops
of Paris are magnificent, it did me
all kinds of good to see them at
work 'pour la victorie." l ten you.
boy. Prussia will never be able to
conquer the spirit of France, any
more than she will ever be able to
oop..ivaa that ,.-n ora I;nlrad