Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-10-02
LIKES
,1Y|NC IN ITALY,
i. SAYS IN LETTER
itand Island Boy Writes Of
Flights at Training School
!. at Which He is
y Stationed.

\ ni5rand Island, Neb.. Oct. l.
F,5eciaD .-Aeroplaning in the
hight over the mountains of Italy,
w. H. Thompson, we'll known
IS graphically described in a let
ter by Lloyd G. Thompson, son of
throughout the state, as one of Ne
braska's democratic leaders. ,[r.
Thompson is now connected with
the second instruction center, u. S.
Air Service. A. E. F. in Italy. The
letter to his wife and parents reads;
Just note to let you know that
the Big Knife has not fallen on
my neck yet. Have classes to teach,
Caproni building, gas pipes, water
system, electrical system, wires,
frames, wings and their angles,
pumps, indication dials, troubles
that may arise, their cure and the
functions of all of these.
Takes High Flight.
"They think | am the meanest
man-just like school boys who dc
not like their teacher because it is
school-but they are all glad to
know these things after the hours
OF torture are over. Will not get
away from here until this school
is closed, or rather until nv last
pupil has finished his course. then |
expect to be transferred.
Just went up with a pupil to
3,40O meters and lay around there
for 50 minutes, then dropped to
1000 meters and climbed back. 1t
was beautiful trip early in the
morning. All three meters were
running like a clock and the air just
cold enough at that height to keep
you awake. Could see the city and
the ocean shining up at US, The
mountains looked like a large gar
den with parts of it built of mar
bic, the white being the snow with
the sun shining on il Other planes
below us looked like they were rum
ming on the ground.
1--WE then climbed on up until the
air was too thin for the motors, so
we cut off the power and started
smooth and steady glide back to
the landing field. AT each 500-me-
ter drop, we cleaned the motors out
by running them a few seconds, also
closed our mouths, holding our
noses, and blew to force the ear
drums back so we could hear.
In Air at Night.
an descending so rapidly, you
must do this to save your ears from
too much pressure. Swallowing
also helps, Made a nice landing,
then left again for 1900 meters,
Where | cut the power, and let my
Pupil see if he could land on the
field without using his motors. He
did very well.
"Last night went up 5000 me-
tiers and stayed there for about half
an hour. 1t was beautiful moon
light night, so could have landed
without the searchlight that is used
for landing. The searchlight is on
one end of the field and shines down
the piece so that you land on the
lighted path that it makes.
after | got up | shut off all of
my lights and flew by the light of
the moon. 1t was beautiful. The
higher l got, the deeper blue the
sky seemed. Went towards the sea,
but ran into a heavy fog bank, so
was forced to beat it back to camp
way down below us. The three en-
gines were shooting fire out of each
of their six exhaust pipes. Each
looks like a tiny blast furnace
shooting up fire.
" Seems so queer to be up there
where everything looks so still and
hear the roar of those bling engines,
The night flying fills you with
amazement at the grandeur of the
sky and sleepy earth below. Did
not flash my whereabouts until |
wasN about 800 meters from the
ground, then the fashlight flashed
that everything was ready for me
to land. l am now chief inspector
of all planes used at this training
school, with 10 assistants under me,
and am pretty busy.
Feeling fine and have a bunch
I'll see you and Grand Island and
A., fx.a,dc