The labor standard., 1918-04-15
AIR FEATS OF
 ', LAFAYETTE MEN
Walcott, Since Shot Down Over German Lines, Tells of
 Comrades Daring.
MAKES DIVE OF 10000 FEET
Aviator Reaches Ground Safely AL though All the Wires on His Ma chine Are Loosened - Spend
 Holiday in Air.

though All the Wires on His Ma
 chine Are Loosened - Spend
 Holiday in Air.
 Washington.-Word pictures of the work of the members of the Lafayette Squadron and other American aviators in France are given in letters which Dr. Charles D. WalcOtt, secretary of the Smithsonian institution, has re- ceived from his son, D. $. WalcOtt, whose airplane fell Somewhere be- hind the German lines'' along the west ern front. The allusiOns to the work of the American aviators contained in these letters are all the more interest ing at this time in view of the fact that the men about whom Walcott wrote have just been commissioned in the American air service on the rec ommendation of General Pershing.
 Doctor Walcott has received a dis patch from Paris informing him that his son fell within the enemy lines December 12 while fighting three sin gle-seaters, after having demolished an enemy two-seater, and that his fate is uncertain. Inquiries are being made to ascertain, if possible, from Germany whether young Walcott was seriously injured or not.
 In letter dated November 13, in re- sponse to an inquiry about Campbell, an aviator from Chicago, who was re- ported lost, young Walcott wrote as follows:
 Campbell was in the Lafayette Els cadrille, and they are a member of the same group as Squadron S4, so have asked them about him. He was on a patrol with another chap; they attack ed some BOches, and when it was over the other chap was alone. Campbell was brought down in German territory and so reported missing. I believe the chap he was with has seen and talked to Campbell's father or some close rel ative since. ,..e
 Another chap named Bulkely was brought down in similar circumstances about the list of September. Ten days ago. word was received from the Amer ican embassy that he had communi- cated with them, a prisoner in Ger many.
 "There are many similar cases where men brought down with crippled machines, or, wounded, escaped de- structiOn by miracle. The only sure thing is when machine goes down In flames or is seen to lose wing or two.
 ''For instance, there are two officers in the group who are in the best of health and daily working. Several months ago they were on patrol to- gether and collided in the air. One machine cut the tail rigging complete ly off the other plane, and then they separated, one plane without tail and the other machine with various parts of a tail mixed among the cables and struts of one side of his machine. They both landed in France, one on his wheels, followed by capotage, or somersault turnover, the other quite completely upside down. Then a term in the hospital, and back they are again.
 Kenneth Marr, an American and a friend of Pete's, had the commands of both his controls cut in a combat, the rudder and elevator. leaving him noth- ing but the aileron, the lateral balance control, and the motor. He landed with only a skinned nose for casualties, and got decoration for it.
 Dives Vertically 10,060 Feet.
 Another chap, in an attack on cap tive balloons, dived for something like 10000 feet vertically and with full mo- tor on, thereby gaining considerable speed, as you can imagine. He came right on top of the balloon, shot and, to keep from hitting it, yanked as roughly as he could, fiattening out his dive in the merest fraction of sec ond. Imagine the strain on the ma chine! When he got home all the wires had several inches sag in them the metal connections of the cables in- to the struts and wood of the wings had bit into the wood enough to give the sag.
 Machines are built to stand inn mense pressure on the under side of their wings. In some acrobatic man. euvers I was trying the other day I made mistakes and caused the machine to stall and then fall in such way that the full weight was supported by the upper surface-by the wires which in most machines are supposed merely to support the weight of the wings when the machine is on the ground.
 "Yes. the Spad is a well-built ma chine. the nearest thing to perfection in point of strength, speed. and climb ing power I've seen yet. Of course, it's heavy, and that's why they put 15O-230 horse power in them. The other school, that of light machine with a light motor, depending for it's success on lack of weight rather than excess of power, may supplant the heavier ma chine in time; I can't tell.
 "Yester{lay there was review here in honor of Guynemer, and decorations for the pilots of the group who had won them. Three Americans received the Croix de Guerre-members of the Lafayette Escadrille. Lufbery, the American ace, carried the American flag presented to the escadrille by Mrs. McAdoo and the employees of the freasnry denartment. hesi'1cs thc tvt, 2 vii nf