Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-08-30

sight was punk, having NO rest fol
| ones fopehead while aiming, anC
both guns jammed on the first dive
| l fixed one while climb bing up an6
| dove again and that one jammed
Then l got them both fixed and tried
my luck again. but one trigger wa'
so awful hard to pull that both hand:
were necessary to start things pop
ping.
| Since one aims his guns by aiming
| his plane and the controls are very
| sensitive, this trying to pull trig'
| ger with both hands was not help
| ing my aim any. ] finally gave uT
| trying to make that gun work and
used the other gun until the shells
were all. Still all five Huns were
| floating around below and, although
had shot several hundred shots
some indeed coming close, it was
quite apparent no damage had oeen
| done.
Heads For Hun
That was the time 1 dove straight
down on a Hun and vainly endeaV-
ored TO make the remaining gun
work. True, 1 did get several shots
out of it and they came mighty
close to that Hun, too, for he sure
made some quick turn. / was near
| ly on top of him then and the gun
jamming again. or, rather all the
strength in my two hands used up in
| holding down the trigger, l stood on
my tail to climb out of danger.
This time she was jammed beyond
repair, but, nevertheless, l dove
down TO the attack once more with
my leader. giving him my moral sup
port, anyway. The Huns didn'
know differently and. seeing three
planes attacking would seem more
| formidable than two.
Fight For Half Hour
We must have been fighting for
half an hour before our leader called
1t draw and started for home. Dur
ing that time l had fired some 500
cartridges and sprayed them over
every Boche in turn in. the bunch
except the 'triplane, for you want to
remember that the Hun planes were
continually circling and when div
ing to the attack it is always policy
to pick the highest man: otherwise,
when. you get down close to your
Hun, another would be above you
and then it would be your turn to
dodge bullets.
That was the reason 1 never shot
at the little triplane, for he was al
ways somewhat lower than the rest
J looking very much like little wasp
among his Albatross brethren with
| tEeir wide, back-swept wings. as he
! circled, dove and stood on his tail tc
| shoot at us. There was also one oi
the Hun planes painted a brilliant
red, which is in sharp contrast &c
| the usual run of "Albatrosses, they
| generally being a mud-colored gray
offset only by the enormous black
cross on the top wing, and brought
| to mind the famous escadrille o.
| Richthofen's circus of red birds.
| Whoever he was, / dove on hin
twice and If did no more damage
he at least had a few souvenir hole:
in his wings. Taking it all in all
l had some exciting time and m!
only regret is that there were non,
tumbled.
$50 Miles an Hour on Dives
And say. Dad, you needn't kid M
about wasting 500 bullets. either!
certainly would like TO see you hi
a Hun plane doing a cross between
a jig and a tango by pointing
plane going somewhere around 23'
! miles an hour. Believe me, one ac
/ quires that much speed diving.
This morning Eyes, it's the 27th'
We were out again at 1 a. m, bu
we had the sky all to ourselves. anC
no wonder. for the haze was so thicl
one could hardly keep his direction
as at 5000 meters the ground was {
hazy blur. The compass came IL
handy then. and, after climbing
above a bank of clouds the sur
! came out and that helped some more
But as far as finding Huns was con
| cerned, the patrol was a failure
because there were not any.
Archie" though, was not to bt
| caught mapping and opened up OF
us promptly as we reached the lines
! Being at 5000 meters then, oul
! leader decided he wanted to be low
/ er and came sliding down in a mum
/ Der of SIS so sharp and sudden i
/ taxed my ability to keep after hin
and keep from running into the 9th.
ers following. All this time ARCHES
was barking away quite freely ant
| every now and then one would breal
high overhead with a loud bang anc
a cloud of black smoke.
| Don't Mind archie
Flying in a Spad, though, one i:
Archie" does really come some
| times, as 1t is very hard for the
pilot to see just below him; in fact
one has to stand upon one wing tC
| do so. Dangerous? oh, not at all
| With a good motor, one don't sliI
at all; and, if so, what's the odds
with several miles of space beneath
Golly! This arising-from bed tC
| air-at 4 a. m. sure does knock one:
sleeping hours, for 1 have beer
yawning and gaping around all day
even though l went promptly bach
to bed after the patrol. The SECOND
instalment did not go so we'll on ac'
count of the strong black coffee
had drunk before flying, >whicf
started a dream about a fight in the
! air where my motor was on the
fritz" two Fritzies on my tail anC
| both my guns jammed-a most hor.
rible dream and quite enough tC
make me tumble off the cot anC
! make a bad landing.
| At this evening 1 am scheduled
to go out again and I have no doubt
| but we shall meet those five Huns
again, for they have been noticed al
that particular part of the lines fol
several days. This time 1 have two
guns which are working and a mo-
tor so strong that both hands are re-
quired on the 10y stick" to hold II
down. Yes, it's a different machine
| from the one l was in the fight
with. for mine will not be ready un-
til tomorrow.
Officer Initiates Girl
To show you on how equal a foot
ing officeSs and men are in French
aviation Camps, the other night our
commander dressed up as a girl
put on a wig and called at all the
rooms to see how many he would
fool. He made a nifty-looking
maiden, even if somewhat husky
around the shoulders, and caused no
end of amusement by his assumed
ways. playing mis- role so we'll that