Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1919-10-30
Letter from Sergeant Bill.
Shepherdstown, w. Va.
Octnher 81 1910
Dear Register

Dear Register
Ii seems mighty strange to be sit
ting here at home and writing you 6
letter, and unless had something
really special and Of interest | would
never make the attempt. The cause
Of this outburst rs the fact that 1t
Belvin w. Maynard won the air race
back and forth across the continent
In many Of the letters that wrote
from France | used to tell you about
flying that we used to see, and how we
used to stand with our mouths open
and watch the aeroplanes as they cir
| cled over our camp. That man was 1t.
Maynard, and he was popularity known
as "The Flying Parson," for before he
came into the army he was minister.
He was the most marvellous flyer that
ever came to our camp in France, and
since we had the biggest Air Service
camp over there, and all the big fell
lows came there once in a while, we
fellows who knew him naturally gave
him credit for being the greatest pilot
in the service, and his having won this
race comes very near proving it. 1t
Maynard is rather small man, slen-
der and clean-cut, and to look at him
you would never guess that he had all
the bird-like qualities hid under his
modest outer appearance, for he was
very modest and retiring, and you
would never pick him out as a notable
in crowd. My acquaintance with him
came about during the investigation of
case with Capt. Edwards and before
we had finished | came to know 1t.
Maynard pretty well. It. Maynard was
manager of the flying officers mess, and
since the flying duties were pretty
heavy, he did not have so much time
to devote to the accounting end, and he
turned this over to sergeant. When
this sergeant left the camp with his
unit to come home he turned over his
accounts and they seemed to be all
right. A week or so later discrepancies
began to show up and just as the ser
geant was marching to the boat to sail
for home he was placed under arrest
and brought back to our camp, and
that was when our work started. The
money was recovered and, because It.
Maynard was real gentleman he did
not prefer charges against the ser
geant, and he was permitted to start
home again, and by the way, he came
home in the same casual company that
| did. And when he was asked about
his trouble he was ungrateful enough
to say that he was not TO blame at all,
and that Ii. Maynard was the one who
had gotten away with the money. When
heard these stories | told him that
il he persisted would take him before
the Commanding Officer and have
charges preferred against him yet, for
he had gotten away without any
trouble, whereas he might have gotten
five or six years in the penitentiary.
He did not have much more to say.
1t. Maynard's work at Romorantin
was testing out Liberty aeroplanes and
he was kept busy. The first time a
plane is flown there are always num-
Der of adjustments to be made, chief
among which is aligning the wings. II
is impossible to do this on the ground
for you cannot tell which way the plane
will list This first flight is a danger
Gus one, for practically every plane had
a list to one side or the other and the
pilot has to be right on the job when
trolls so that he does not crash. Then
there are numerous other things to be
watched, great number of instru-
ments, and these all had to be perfect
before the plane was sent up to the
front. 1t. Maynard was also me-
chanic and for that reason he was
very valuable in this testing work.
He made numerous applications to go
to the front, but they were all turned
down because of the important work
he was doing in the construction de-
partment. From time to time many
varieties of wrecked planes came back
to our plant and from these wrecks he
made himself a plane with which he
used to do his fancy flying. The plane
was Campbell with a Hispano-Souiza
motor and had a hum to it that we
could easily distinguish from any
other plane that ever flew over our
camp, and whenever we would hear
this motor humming up in the air we
always made a break for the door be-
cause we knew 1t. Maynard was up
taking his daily recreation. He sure
could fly that plane, and many times
we thought he would not be able to
come out of the various contortions
that he put his machine through, but
he never had a crash with that plane
so far as know One thing was par
ticularly noticeable about his personal
appearance-he always had the skin
knocked off the bride Of his nose, for
when he would land and the machine
would bounce, bang would go his
nose against the cockpit, and ! never
saw him without the patch on his nose.
There was seldom a day that he did
not fly, and imagine that after so long
a time it was almost as easy for him to
fly as it was for him to walk. His
most notable accomplishment in France
was when he broke the worlds loop
the loop" record. He made 3l8 loops
in 81 minutes at an altitude OF about
two thousand feet, and the plane he
used was the one he made from the
wreck of others. That sure was
graf sight, and we fellows who were
watching him lost count of his many
loops long before he finished. You
cannot imagine how thrilling it was,
and the sensation Of just watching him
is mighty hard to describe, and ! have
often wondered just how he must have
felt during that performance, for only
one who has done that sort OF thing
could ever register such a feeling.
When he gets out of the army, 1t
Maynard will 60 back to the ministry.
and he vii 5 e.. &c the original sky
pilot for ne has certainly spent some
time flying through it, and preaching
will probably 70; contain nearly so
many th.ii.s nor so many dangers as
flying. Think of him going out in his
aeroplane to visit the country members
or to preach his sermons to his coun
try congregation. ri bet the people
would take his sermons TO his onluuu
u,o,,Id take uyhnIe Iot more interest