The Cordova daily times., 1918-04-01
9F ROOKIE W!?HA
 CRAZY AIRMAN

Letters from soldiers, both at the front and in training camps, are read with the greatest interest these days, and the following extracts from a let. ter written by Sergeant Earl Byers to kicked the pyrene extinguisher terest because of the fact that Byers is an Alaskan. MT. Byers went to Seattle early last fall with an appoint ment to the officers reserve corps training camp, but because the camp would not start until January, and he was anxious to get into the fray at the earliest possible moment, he en- listed in the aviation section. So far he has made good, having been made a sergeant two weeks after enlist ment, and he hopes soon to be in line for commission. He says:
 q was sent to San Antonio and trained there for two months. 1 was then sent to Taliafero field, near Fort Worth. This is the British winter fly ing field. I am a cadet in the aero gunnery school, and am learning aero battle practice. The instructors are all men who have seen actual fighting in France, and who have been sent home because of wounds received in service.
 ITO sit in a plane travelling 12O miles per hour and hit the pilot of an enemy plane travelling at the same speed-to figure the angle and line of flight-is some problem. An aerial combat usually lasts not more than six seconds, so you see one must be nimble-witted.
 q was up a short time since with Lieutenant Gish, one of our crack fliers. He told me when we were tuning up that he was going to pull off some stunts We left the ground and went into two vertical banks be- fore we were fifty feet in the air We then climbed to 5000 feet. With out warning Gish turned the nose of the machine down and we started for the ground, the motor running full speed.
 A Sudden Drop Into Space l q was in the front seat with nothing 1 between me and the earth save roar ing propeller. When we started down I kicked the pyrene eytinguisher, which is fastened to the floor of the plane. It came floating up past me and I caught it in the air over my head. We were dropping so fast that the steel cylinder filled with water would not fall fast enough to stay with us, unsecured
 "We looped the loop and then went into a spinning nose dive. To do this you drop the nose down and spin round and round as you descend It is a very fine maneuyer to watch from the ground, but is very dangerous for the aviator.
 q was very seasick when I landed, and will never forget my first flight with a crazy pilot
 "We have some pilots here who can do anything with their machines When Uncle Sam turns our birds loose in Germany Kaiser Bill will think merry h loose in the land.
 "There are ten flying fields in Texas. At one field alone one day last week the planes travelled more than 75,OOO miles. This may sound in- credible to you, but is matter of record
 My squadron is posted for overseas service, and we may leave any min- ute. We will complete our training in England I am very glad to be going across, but will head for the North as soon as we are through trouncing Bill"
 Thoughts Turn Northward
 Sergeant Byers says of the sunny south" that it sounds very fine when YOU live in the frozen North I" hut eff