The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-09-15
Americans HaueLargest
 Flying Camp m World .NoLU Located Tn France

parts of combat aviation. To be a close and pursuit pilot one must be able to out-maneuver the enemy avia- tor; to make quick turns under fire and get above your adversary or on his tail One or the other will be out Imaneuvered. and the fastest man wins the game. The enemy is very skiRful at acrobatics, and he must be beaten at his own game"
 Lieut.. Quentin Roosevelt was in command of Field No. [, while he was here, aud the car of the late officer stood in the hangar with a group of flyers about it paying tribute to the splendid qualities and daring of their late leader. His good hunor was re- called by the name he had given his car, s.'Doc Yak" and the doctor with his flowing whiskers was painted in fam ] ing colors on the sidfe of the car. This is the field on which iormation | flying is begun in squadrons up to IS machines, but us,ially with fivo The squadron flies in ,V-shape, with the commander at the apex of the V. carry ing a streamer which signals the com mands. A fleet of l5 machines was 1 starting as we passed, and another had 1 just come after two hours in the airt | ending with ya figure eight, difficult evolution executsd by Crossing the | controls so that the rudder serves as elevator and the elevator serves as rudder. At night this field is lighted 1 by powerful searchlights and night l flying goes oh from 10 o'clock until daylight.
 SCORES IN AIR
 1 On the combat and acropatc fields, l Nos and 9. scores of machines were | in the air going through their fighting evolutions or dipping and looping tN. .f...< .tn.7 at guns, a novel device combining 2 dummy NInachine gun and a photo graphic cainera. It looks like gun but as the trigger is pulled the camera takes a picture of the target showing
 just what would have been hit if .
 shot instead of a lense had olazeo ahead.
 l. was over the acrobatic field thai
 the real wonders were going on in the
 vertical virage, spirals and wing slips
 Spectacular as these seemed to be, eacf
 had it's usc in the fighting game. Th'
 "virille" is that dizzy head first tumble
 and the chief thing is not 10 60 1t
 but undo it and come out of it It has
 it's uses, too, in deceiving an enemy
 into the belief that the aviator hal been hit and IS tumbling, then az th'
 enemy is off guard attacking hin suddenly as the aviator comes out o his hcadlong drive.
 Tt is dangerous only when near tht
 ground" said the escort. High " .ne air there is comparatively no dan
 ger for there is plenty or time !,
 set your nerves so that you're sure tt come out of the virille."
 others were doing the spiral, anothe' } form of head-first dive except that tht
 car is always under control whereas
 in the virille the control is lost unti
 the ayiators succeed in emerging iron 1 his fall. Often the machines seemed
 to stop suddenly, turn over and thef : glide away in the opposite direction right side up.
 l One of the best maneuvers Tor cs cape from a dangerous fight Is the vor- 1 tical ng-slip, as it is the tastes , ,sns of losing altitude and gettina
 below an unequal combat. When ar
 aeroDatic maneuver misses or Is oadi done it is a ''pancaks" of "barrel.'
 There is as much lingo to the aviatiof , | field as there is to the baseball ala
 mond.
 1 Leaving the field we passed crip' i, pled aviator limping on crutches. He has had 21 crashes" said the of. ficer. (which is about the record. Bu i, he goes back every time and he's easei ! now to get in his machine again Ant
 that is the spirit of every man here to be ready for combat and to beat th'
 bOche"