The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1918-11-21
British Pilot Tells of Thrilling Ex-
perIence Spotting for Ar
iiIe.y.
DEScEEDs Just IN TIM!
Engine Stops Just as Mission Is Conn.,
pleted-Puts Machine Into Side.
Slip-Tans Explodes Just as
He Reaches Safety.

London.-"The fighting pilots don't
get all the fun of the war in the mir
writes II young bird who had n thrill
ing experience recently, returning to
his base in flaming plane
I'VE were flying over No Mans
Land" he says. "SpOtting for the artil.
lery, and by constantly changing direc-
l"n ana height we had pretty well es-
car"d the attention of the ubiUuitous
Nrcme. The shoot was progressing
satisfactorily, and our battery woulG
soon he all ranged. Our engine hn0
been running worry badly. and had th,
shoot been less important we shouiG
have returned home; hut the target
was special Hun bridge and the bat
terry was shooting excellently.
AirpIane on Fire.
Suddenly smell of burning wood
reached my nOStrlS. Looking down.
J saw the framework near nv feet
hlackcned and snolhering. The en-
@'nc'S hack-fring must have made =
torch of the exhaust. 7 switched off
the petrol supply and onenod out tho
throttle. One steep. swift dive and the
FIR" was out.
''Then hcSitated Should we hurry
for HON" and safety, or continue rhe
Shoot in which a very little more oh
serving would bring complete success :
L turned to the observer. He leaned
over and inspected the damage. II
was not very bad, really. He shouted
into my ear:
Lets carry co."
II climbed again and we continued
to shoot Our battery was very soon
firing as Il hattery-all guns-nur last
message having completed the regis.
tratiOn: and now shells were Ciroppine
about the target. Our part was done
pretty we'll tOO-;nd in few min
utes the bridge was entirely destroyed
In our excitement the faulty engine
had been forgotten until, with one last
splutter, it gave out completely. II
stopped.
"The machine was really on fire this
time and I was too late. THE wood.
work was burning independently of pc
troll and exhaust, and to dive now
would only fan the flames about my
feet. Yet we had to get to the ground,
and very quickly, too.
Quite Wild Affair.
"I put the machine into a violent
side-slip away from the line. The
flames were thus famed toward the op-
posite wing. The observer, leaning
over my shoulder. squirted the fire ex-
tinGuiSher about my feet, which en-
abled me to keep control of the rud-
der bar. We were down to 1,5OO feet,
but the heat was intense.
''The fire had reached the right wing.
Things were getting more and more ex-
citing. Would the fabric continue to
support us? I pushed down the nose
to hasten our descent, keeping the ma
chine also in side-slip. The rush Of
air slightly changed the direction of
the flames. Now we were nearly down.
There were n few shell holes and hard
ly any hedges Unless we were un-
lucky we should not meet any serious
obstacle.
'The ground rushed toward us. I
took off the bank and 'f1attened out
One landing wheel touched with a
bump, broke away and continued its
course independently. The machine
pirouetted on the remaining wheel and
finally crashed on its nose and left
wing. 1t was quite q wild affair, but
we were unhurt.
"Springing to the ground, we hurried
away from the burning wreck just in
time, for second later the petrol
tank exploded. We just looked at each
other ond payar Qa}d o word hut
neither of us regretted having CHANGED
1t and finished our job"