Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-09-21
AER0DROMES
AT NIGHT AREAS
IN DAY
MIGHT FLIGHTS ARE NOT FREQUENT,
BUT MECHANICS ARE KEPT BUSY
PUTTING EVERYTHING IN SHAPE
ASSOCIATED Press Correspondencc.)

BEHIND THE BRITISH LINES IN
FRANCE, Sept. 2l.-Night, as well as day
is full of work and hustle at an army aero
drome. Night flights are not frequent, but
the night i the time when the mechanics
are busiest, putting everything right foI
whatever tomorrow may bring forth.
Long after the sun has sunk beneath the
tops of the hangers and the trees have
changed from green to black, the hard
worked alrplanes drift homeward, crossing
the evening sky like black spccks on a pur-
pie cloth and landing with a deep droning
on the slipped grass, lame and weary from
"A long afternoons work over the lines.
The days work is finished: reports are
handed in, and the pilots saunter down to
their mess tents among the trees. The me-
chanics appear, wheel the machines into
their respective hangers, and the nights
work Is begun.
IL j. seventeen miles To the shell holes
of No Man. Land. and all the horrors of
war. The long white road, thick with the
dust of transport, j. silent. The flat aero
drome J. in darkness but thehargars, loom
Ing black against the evening sky, are
bright within. There j. much to be done.
MazeS Of wires must he o%verhauled: many
must be replaced or tainted. The enemy
anti aircraft artillery has been active and
some of the planes bear witness of it,
work. The canvas wings of one machine
are riddled and need long and patient at
~teniIon before ii will be fit for service
again. On another. the flying struts must
be renewed. On another. the wings are out
of shape, the result of strenuous manoeu
vers in aerobatic fighting.
The whole means a hard seven hours OF
work for the entire staff of mechanics.
They settle down to il a. a matter Of ron
tine. Every time a machine comes back
from the lines 1t has To be overhauIed. per
haps dismantled. New gadgests must be fit
ted. the engine repaired and cleaned. Air
planes are after all very delicate pieces of
mechanism and need continual attention.
Without i they are useless, even danger
Gus. The accuracy of hundreds Of meas
urements. the trustworthine>s of hundreds
of parts, are essential To good flying and
reliability. and Just a. much depends on
these factors a on the skill of the pilot.
The airplanc mechanic doesn't share the
dangers Of the field or the hard~hips of the
lnfantryman or artilleryman. but he has
endless work. and a very heavy rcsponsi-
lnlIty. When there j. heavy air fighting he
must frequently work all day and all night.
and woe betide the pilot If he should skinp
any Of his work. Upon hi. shoulders rests
the strength Of the squadron and it. eff
cheney.
The officer in charge of the aerodromc
during the night hours j. known ~ the
orderly officer" Warmly clad. To keep
out the chills of the night he walks around
the busy sheds and hangers. now and then
offering a word Of advice or encourage
mcnt, but always with an ear for the tcle-
phone bell, for NJ any moment orders NAV
come through for night bombing or the
wardlng off of some hostile aircraft. Such
orders are very rare. but everything J.
ready for them when they come.
The work IN the hangers i. % arranged
that the Stced> appointed for the next DAY.
work shall be ready m hour before dawn
A. the first rays of the sun light up tn,
aerodrome. the machines are wheeled GU
on the 'Tamac." oiled and attuned for Tia,
morning flight.