Evening star., 1918-04-14
LIKES TO SEE FOES
| DROP FROM SKIES
French "Aoe," Fonck, Avenger
Of Guynemer, Tells Of His
Battles In Air.
ALWAYS TAKES CHANCES

ALWAYS TAKES CHANCES
Hx PAUL AYAEs ROCKWELL.
Cablesram to TIE Sunday Star and
Chicago Daily News. Copyright A0ie'
WITH THE FRENCH ARMY. April
ia battle between two aeroplanes
is a duel" Lieut. Rane Fonck. tho
avenser and successor Of Capt Georges
euynemer, Frances fallen king OF the
air. said to me today. We were navlns
after-dinner coffee and pliots ron
other squadrons. with soldiers from
other branches OF the ANY army hands a
and chat with one among france
greatest living fighting av1ators.
Therefore, Lieut., Fonck. as a RUE SO
reticent, talked a bit more freely. than
he usually does.
Aviator Must Keep Trained.
.In this duel the chances Of victory
are Overwhelmingly in favor of the
pilot who is the best trained and the
~Dolest," the "ace" continued. Frying
chasing aeroplane is extremely hara
and fatiguing work. plot 10 De sue.
condition by undergoing a regime as
vigorous as that of. a foot ball player
training for a championship Inatch. he
must keep regular hours, with no
otherwise the aviator is failure ana
worse than useless. In the air pilot
must be absolutely self-confident ana
feel that he is better than his adyer-
sary and must never lose. Qufckness
of decision is the most important quality
Individuality counts for more IN
aviation than in any other branch of the
war service. The Germans have very
good and well equipped aviation corps.
but there as everywhere else in their
army, individualism is snuffed out. Ger
man pilots hardly approach our lines
otherwise than al patrols. consisting OF
from eight to twelve aeroplanes. They
work under many rules made by men
who have never flown. We often make
sorties alone but consider that small
patrols get the best results. Put a good
man in command of patrol. and the
other pilots. even the young and mex
perienced. will initiate their leader and
win victory"
Tells of Himself.
duced Lieut. Fonck to talk about him
self and his exploits.
81 planned and studied since I was
twelve years old to be ulechanical en-
ginee<," he said. "Beces0ing interested
in aviation, I entered a training school
mof4 than deserved his reputation as a
wonderful f1ier. l was brevetted as a
pilot in 1913. and the war began before
] was drafted for military service
{Fcnck belongs to the class of 1910,
bus as soon as the boches started hos
ti1ities entered the aviation corps and
was soon at the front.
e For almost three years I flew recon-
naissance. photographing and artillery
ire regulation aeroplanes. While doing
reconnaissance work 1 shot down my
first and second German machines.
attacked the first victim well within
eur lines. putting several bullets in his
motor. forcing the pilot to land. made
him and his passenger prisoners. The
only time in my entire career when
was brought down WAS on a regulation
flight. / crossed the line at fifty meters
t164 feet) altits1e. By mistake l was
nred upon by sle French. The aero
plane was vftzAy hit and fell to the
earth between .he lines. was unin-
jured. but forced to run for our
trenches. happily escaping the boche
bullets.
Takes Up Chasing Duties.
I'm May. 1917. was transferred to
the chasing aviation. in which I had
long wished to be. To date have de-
which thirty-three have been placed
to my official credit. The others fell
too far within the enemy lines for con-
firmation. In Flanders last fall, and
also in the present battle. conditions
have been such that verif1cation Of
most of our victories has been impos-
sible. Since I entered chasing work I
have not had what consider narrow
ESCAPE. / have never felt frightened or
excited. though sometimes ind that
/ have perspired freely during long,
drawn-out combat.
8 Il have no special method of attack.
Immediately my opponent makes a move
I knowa just how able pilot he is and
determ le my tactics accordingly. ] never
hesitate to take chances. Usually / open
fire when am $50 meters A92 feeO from
my adversary and continue until he be-
gins falling or until am five meters (six-
teen feet) away from him and then
swerve to avoid a collision. 1t is really
amusing to attack pilot who is afraid.
During my first victories l always felt
the thrill of pleasure when my adversary
started falling. Now it is an old story.
and I merely thing, Well, it's another
boche less I like most to see the van
ouished machines turn over in the air
and the occupants break loose from the
straps and fall through space.
my most difficult fight was at verdun
last January, when attacked seven boche
machines alone, shooting down two"
Aeroplane Never Hit.
Last week near Montdidier I at
tackled two Tango pilots, who were pro-