Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-12-20

the machine spins like top) did
beautiful one. but he went to heaven
and the machine to the junk pile,
| for he never came out of 1t.
This "vrille" has been the bugaboo
of moniteurs during our entire train
ing, as they always ended up their
instructions by saying impressively.
'and If you don't do it that way,
you'll go into 'vrille.'" l discov-
cred the truth of that to-day when
l was sent up to do a spiral, real
tight one. Having. had the stunt eX-
| planned through an interpreter, l
| misunderstood part of 1t, with the
result that l had no sooner started
my spiral than l lost my speed and
began to spin a ''vrille." Believe
me, little Walter stuck everything in
the middle and pushed on the stick,
for that is the way to come out of
most anything-put all the controls
in the center and nose the machine
down, then sit tight and pray, If
| you're religious. l didn't say what
l did, but when they asked me what
service to read at the funeral l told
them Presbyterian. Yes, they even
put that down with the .'coffin ad-
dress"
| But 1 am wandering from the
story, or rather getting ahead of
myself, because, after going TO
dozen officers, we finally found our
beds-and no fire.
Climate Like California
This is a climate like California.
| because as soon as the sun goes
down you want to dig up all your
blankets and underwear. L only had
| five wooden blankets on, besides
sleeping in my underwear, and still
/ NNrn aAl1
here, however, as we are routed out
before daylight the roll called and
out ready to fly before the sun rises
over the snow-capped peaks of the
Pyrenees mountains, which are quite
near by airfllre, ana lCmind me of
Mt. Tacoma, in Washington state.
Imagine my surprise after passing
such a cold night to see palm trees
scattered around the yard. All l
have to say is they must be a hardy
| plant. I'm almost withered, and I'm
! not very peaked, either. Did not
get a ride in the morning, but spent
the time walking around and get
ting our bearings. Looking through
| these hsngars was very interesting,
| for they contain the fastest planes
aWinS as well as several captured
German planes, which for beauty
of line and power are hard to equal.
In the afternoon we reported for
class, but did not get up, the class
being too full. The next morning,
though, l got up, getting three rides
in an IS m. 1t was during these
little tours that 1 had leisure to OBJ
serve the awful ground to fly over.
Looking down from 800 meters, the
| whole. country seemed laid out in
little squares composed of marshes
enclosed by hedges of scrub trees.
My motor ran fine, though, and l
only worried about it in q vague
way, but on the fourth trip / had
something to worry about, as / got
off with the engine missing; kept on
going, though, nevertheless, and the
doggone thing missed all way
around, while 1 sat there Juggling
the levers and wondering how soon
would be hanging on a tree or sunk
in swamp. The plane was new to
me also, being a biplane. the idea
to get the pilot used to driving with
gunner. Instead of a gunner, they
placed sandbags in the back and
placed me in the front seat to drive.
That in itself was something new,
as | had grown used to the back
seat.
Had Narrow Escape
After I came down from this fight
the fellows told me how close a call
l had had, because another airplane
had gone up the same time mine
did and, getting into the air, nearly
cut my tail off. l went sailing along
in blissful ignorance of ALI this.
Goodness knows, / had enough trou-
BILE keeping the engine going and
looking for a possible landing place.
After four circles of the field, we
were declared ready for spirals and
were told not to land too far down
the field, as there was a swamp
there. This was proved to us fifteen
minutes later when a F'renchman
landed short and turned upside down
In this swamp. Yes, mashed the
machine, but only ducked him. Felt
sort of sorry for him, because it sure
was cold-the air, l mean. l had
been up four times and my hands
and feet were numb-and someone
said this was a warm climate. Did
not get up that day for spirals, but
that afternoon expected to. Went to
the wrong field, however, and was
sent, with a dozen others, cross
country to the right field 1t was
there we had a chance to see at
close quarters the type of country
we flew over. 1t was nothing but
logs, high grass ana scrubby trees.
And then, after all this walk, which
was only hNe miles or so, we did
not get aloft. However, 1 got my
name down near the head of the
list and spent the rest of the evening
watching acrobatics. This particular
| field has an historical interest, the
Wright brothers having made some
| Of their early experiments here
The field is named Wright" for that
reason. Personally, 1 think Wilbur
or Orville. whichever was RESPONSE
bic for the choice, sure had his nerve
with him flying around here. If his
motor ever died after he left the
fed, it was good night and a wreck.
Yes. got my spirals to-day, but only
made one good one, going into two
''rr.lles' and side slip in the four
attempts. incidentally, I got the last
OF right and 1 am still wondering
how it looked. The fellows said it
was good one. Since 1 am writing
this you know 1 got out of the
| ''vrilles" alright. It's time for bed
now. and l have to arise at 5 a. m.
VIII tell you more about my spirals
later, since ] go to a still smaller
machine, q 10 m, tomorrow.