The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1918-08-15
BY LIEUTENANT PAT. O'BRIEN

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20 on dropping bombs and not to fight
unless they have to. There Is seldom
time that machines go out over the
lines on this work In the daytime that
they are not attacked st some time ord
other, and 20 the scouts usually have
plenty ofwork. to do. In addition to
these attacks, however. the sQuadron |
is invariably under constant bombnrd-
ment, from the ground. but that, doesn't
wcrfs US very iAicst. 'Asswe ktjow 5rct.1
~ well how to avoid being hit from
'fHta 'fHtay ygSs3f 'SssAl AA0 jftetI S,n,ss th,d
squadron. was taken out over the
lines to geta look at things, map ont
my IpsatBd ny A@e flNbtI sysF lpstl
locate the forests, lakes and other !
landmarks and get tbs. general lay of
'es on lans; ssint I'D, WAS 9MblNl..ea uplb9a
me very emphatlcally was the location
Sf the hospitals, SO that IN case 4 WAS
ktdr Wounded hiAl had k1el 1tfsnkM tn'
pick my landing could land as near
las possible to q klospitak Al these
things IA heNs sttlSt goes, tltrdnsh dipS|
Ing the first two or three days Bfter
L Our res,i9r routne wns typ .1ighta'
RI dny, each 6f two hours dufation2
After, doing opr, regular patrol, It was
I.o1r Priv 6gak 10 "a bff on our own hook
tlif Ne Wished, Before goine Aack 70
the NqdadrotG N-s5 xs0O
I soon found out that my squadron
was some hot squadron. our flyers be-
Ing almost always assigned to special
duty work, such as shooting up
trenches ut height Of fifty feet from
kthe ground.
| received my baptism into this kind
| Of work the third time went out oyer
4 the lines, and I would recommend II
| to anyone who Is hnnkering for. exciter
ment. You are not only apt to be<dk.
I tucked by hostile aircraft fro5d above.
but you are swept b. machin6,gnn. me
from below. have seen some Of our
machines come back from this work
sometimes SO riddled with bll)lets ,thpt
I wondered how they ever held to.
gether. Before we started out on one
Of these Jobs. w4 wete mighty careful
to see that our motors were In perfect
condition. because they told US the
'war bread was bad In Germany"
One morning; shortly after Joined
| the squadron. tAyed. Of us.startsd oser
the line of our own accord. We soon
observed four 9hehy machines, two.
seaters. coming toward US. This type
of machine is afssd ~ thts Huns for
artillery work and bomb dropping. and
we ,kneY they were on inischief' bent.
Each machine had a machine gun In
front. worked by the.ppat .anA w a.
server also had gun with which he
could spray all around.
When, we first noticed the Huns, our
machines were. about six miles back
OF the German lines and we were lying
high up In the sky, keeping the sun
behind us. 80 that the enemy could, mot
SEQ u.s.
4 We picked out three of t;,a machines
and dove down on them. / went right
by the man I picked fof snyS6af and
his observer In the rear seat kept
pumping at me to beat the band. MOI
one Of my shots took effect d 4 went
!, right down under him. but ! turned
and gave him another burst Of bullets
snnd down he went In hpiAning nod
. dive. one of his wings going one way
and one another. As saw him crash
to the ground knew that had got my
FIRST hostile aircraft. One Of my com
rades was equally succesSful, but thu
other two German machines got awAy
We chased them back until things 10
: too hot for us by reason of the appear
. ance of other German machines, an(
then we called II day.
This experience whetted my appetite
for. more Of the saps skinds and dit
not have long to YAK. @
t1 Il may b. we'll lto explaln here Jus
II what a lspinnipe np1P berid ls. A few
: year, ago the SpinniAg moss dive wa
considered one Of the most Dangerous
: things q pilot could attempt. ant
: many men were killed getting into thi
llspln and not knowing bow to conn
out of It. In fact, lots Of pilot
4 bnouSpt da1t Whrr ynoy fJOo< ~ sNs'
"a spinning nose dive there was M
way Of coming out Of It, II is nov
used. however. in actual Tying. III
The machines mat are used 4
. France are controlled in two ways
both by hands, and feet, the fes
working the poke Of trudders .ba
which controls the rudder; that steer
the machine, The lateral control
fore and at which esuse5 the sms
i chine TO rise or lower. are controlle
n by q contrivance called a, rjoy stick.
g II. when dying n the hii.j "a ,pliG
p should release, HIS hold on this sticl
slI 1T WIN gradually. icohjs toward II
1 P,iS' sIs tAlt position Vi. machine wi
l. begin to climb. So II q pilot Is she
| % ke~r~