The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-12-15

nlElltl Ill lIlt NIbuttS lllti a. lAiiNt VIM
nose to nose hght would ersue he
tween hawks and wasps. vultures
and eagles; a fight in which men
dared not run away and some poor
birds had to come down
II was Il trick of the Hun birds TO
lot the allied scouts come as far al
possible across the trenches beyond
the enemy lines. Then they would
swoop out of the clouds between the
red white and blues and their home
base. The story is told of an Eng
lish boy whose engine WAS put out OF
commission and who could do nothing
but glide her down to an open iicld
far behind the German lines.
Usually an aviator 80 placed de-
stroyed his own machine. This boy
didn't need TO do so. II was ALREADY
burning and he was standing perfectly
motionless watching the road coming
out of the twilight woods from the
German line. \ company OF Uhlans
came galloping to the open field. See
ing only one lone boy beside a burning
aipplane, they reineA up ut the edge
of the woods and left one of the com
pany to take the awaiting prisoner.
The boy never budgtd until the
horseman was within speaking dis
lance. Then he drew his revolver and
fired. simultaneously grabbing the
horses bride. and as the cavalryman
toppled out of the saddle the avntor
| leapcd into the stirrups. IL is ono OF
| the things that couldn't have hap
pened. but it did. That boy escaped
| through the woods and under cover
of night back through No Mans Land
| to his own lines.
Another interesting duty for these
two scatter observation machines,
| though they reaped none Of the glory
| of the single fighter was TO get spies
across the trenches at night and
drop them behind the German lines In
| lonely open spaces. Spy and pilot
would arrange u signal, three winks
of light from a certain tree, say.
/ by which the pilot would know where
to pick the spy mp a few nights later;
but ii didn't always work out
Night Flying Most FenrSome.
TO begin with. as Bishop says,
Flying by night is "a most fcarsome
thing" The place where YOU LETT your
spy might b" patrO!ied next night by
Hun birds or Il sentry might be asleep
un,icr that tree or the SPY might have
been compelled to be at II different
spot from the one arranged, and to
land in the darl; in a strange field is
counting death. Also the Huns were
not asleep on the spy business. They
sometimes captured the spy, put his
clothes on a spy of their own and
got him behind the allied lines with
the help OF an allied aviator.
One of the funniest stories told of
criscroSSng each other il OF a flock
OF these rowing night birds coming
home TO roost one night and signal
ing down to the airdrome for
searchlights on the field TO enable
them to land. The engines came
ohuCgnG TO silence with a taxi OF
wheels across the Lowell fields; but
when the English mechanics went out
to take in the machines they were
paralyzed to hear thick, cultural
voices. 4 German flock OF night
rovcrs had lost themselves in the
dark and the mist and come down
on an allied acrodrOme by mistake.
The men OF both sides simply shouted
with laughter AZ the mistake.
But of all the night work, bombing
was the most foxy and dangerous.
II was probably also, with some com
bination OF the hydroplauc. the fore
runner Of long distance travel 10y air
after the war.
. The machines have in two years de-
Velopcd into huge twin ana triple en-
CINE affairs good for from 1900 To
400 horse power. capable u climbing
, l,400 feet in three minutes and carry
? ing from five to eleven tons in weight
, with from twclty to fifty passengers
and possessing wonderful range finding
devices for bomb dropping. The Hand
5 ley Page, the Caproni, the giant Cur
, tiss boats, the Caudron the Cotha are
= the famous planes OF this type
, The Dreadnought of the Sky.
The bomber must ny high 10 evado
, detection over enemy country. Sho
must fly fast 10 defy pursuit and she
must fight like an ace If confronted.
She is tho dreadnought Of the Sky, is
the bomber, and while she goes out
escorted by swift pursuit planes, like
tho dreadnought she must be able TO
defend herself il asSailed when drop
= ping her deadly eggs"
One story will Illustrate the type OF
-, aviator who must man her Though
, the human factor and chance still play
n large part in tho bombs finding its
target in spite of velocity, darkness and
n anti-aircraft guns. marvcllously accu-
7 rate devices help, but in the urlN'
! days of the war these devices We're not
in use. The boys went uut with the
: eggs" SO laid in the bomber that thay
:. did not disturb the centre of gravity.
, which meant that the eggs were stored
i. away immovahly nice and close and
= comfy beneath the boys scat--a cheer
q ing prospect il attacked
, one ship went out in "A bombing
A squadron and got rid of its eggs all
right, but whether il sidrshpped in
- dropping them or rolled and pitched 10
a puff Of air in the dctonaton a small
egg" stuck in the landing gear. Now
;, YOU might like to land With bump
with an uncNplodel bomb right uudcr
= you, hut these nVIatous didn't. Hui hoT
' 10 get rid of the pcSky thing withuu.
blowing themselves up? They could
I have saved their lives IN a parachute
9 Jump and let the bomb blow hen mp
N but that would have wasted nuo
g ship; SO what did these boy await lrs
do?
As the ship came homng in at dawn
the mechanics were aGape to SEQ m
. acrobat climb out, hang by his hands
get the egg" out ~ tho landing gear