D 603 
 .M42 
 Copy 1 
 
 THE LIFE STORY 
 
 OF AN 
 
 AMERICAN AIRMAN IN FRANCE 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE LETTERS OF STUART WALCOTT, WHO, 
 
 BETWEEN JULY AND DECEMBER, 1917, LEARNED TO 
 
 FLY IN FRENCH SCHOOLS OF AVIATION, 
 
 WON FAME AT THE FRONT, AND 
 
 FELL NEAR SAINT SOUPLET 
 
 Reprinted from the National Geographic Magazine 
 January, 1918 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
DbC3 
 
niAjAMiN sri'XKr wai.cott 
 
THE LIFE STORY 
 
 OF AN 
 
 AMERICAN AIRMAN IN FRANCE 
 
 Extracts from the Letters of Stuart NA'alcott, Who, Between 
 
 July and December, 1917, Learned to b^\y m I^Vench 
 
 Schools of Aviation, Won Fame at the l''ront, 
 
 and Fell Near Saint Sonplet 
 
 STrXKT WAIX'f )T'r was a >cnini- hrlp tlic Allies and llicii' railsc I will 
 
 al I 'riiiCL'tnii L'ni\rrsil\' in tile will- liirnish ni\- srrvices ami \ uu tlic I'niicis 
 
 UTiif ii>i(i-i7. 1 11 \ iow nf liis aji- 1" makr iii\ -iT\icrs axailahlc. If iidt, 
 
 ]iriiarliiiiL; ^i-aduatimi in iIk- s])riiii;. hi^ 1 will In- willini; ni invest ilu- ^iiial! 
 
 I'allirr wnitc tn liini thai In- liad Iji.'sI Ik-- aniiniiit nl' caiiilal wliirli lia-. aiaannulalcil 
 
 ^"iii til think almul what he \va> tn <In in ni\ naiiK-. 
 
 after !;ra(Uiatiiin. in nialcr that he ini^lit "1 ha\c liccii tliinkiiiL; ut llii^ w urk in 
 
 get 1)11 an iiKk-pciuk-iU l)a>is as sihih as lMirn|ie icr 'i\i,r a \ear imw ami ,nii siill 
 
 ]M-afticalilc. \'-r\ si,-i,iio f,,r n. I ikni'l know what 
 
 Tn resliiiiisc, niuler date cit' |aiinar\' J. the I'jlecl will he dii iii\scll". Imi it" n will 
 
 he wrote: lie nl si_-i-\ iee tn iithers, I think that it is 
 
 'Ann s]Hike (it' ni\ heillg indejiendent suinelliiiiL; 1 miL^hl tndn." 
 
 at'tiT I ;;radnated in the spring. If I gn I'.eiiiL; assured that the eN|iensi.s wnuld 
 
 In l'',urn]ie. as I want tn. tn drive an am- Ik- ]irn\ided Inr, he then hegaii an in - 
 
 Imlanee nr iiAthe air serviee. 1 will lie \esii^atinn as in the liesi im-thnd nf pro- 
 
 dmiig a man's wnrk' and sliall he dning eeilnre tn nlitain IramiiiL; as an a\'iatnr. 
 t-iinn<jh In snppnrt nuselt. It llie wnrk 
 
 ■ 1 •. ■ , 'i ■, ■ 1 -, lal.llXIl) Tim: W I \Tn|; nl' (.k'l' \'l' S|.'K\ICK 
 
 Is unp:iid. It is niereh liee:inse it is eliarit- . . ivx n i. 
 
 ahle w.irk and as sucii is given freelv. '' Mv^'lTS 
 
 "If \(iii want to ])ay my way, I will In :i letter daii-d kniiMiw _'(i In said: 
 
 eniisidcr it lint as dependence nil \im. "\l;in\. iii;iii\ thanks tnr scudiii;^- me 
 
 f:ither. hnt as a ])artnershi]i llntt may the hnnk nil the h'rench h'K ing C'nrps, hv 
 
Hi.NjAMiN sriARi' wAi.corr 
 
 <.lll]\<. RIMn 111 S I AK r ()\ I'A I Rdl, 
 
THE XATIOXAL GEOGRATHIC MAC.AZIX1-: 
 
 87 
 
 W'inslow. I read half of it the niglit 
 that it came and stayed up late last night 
 to finish it. He gives a very straight, 
 interesting, and ajiiiarentl}- not exagger- 
 ated account of the Aurk over there, 
 which has made somewhat clearer to nie 
 just what it is that I want to get into. 
 Xow I am e\'en more anxious than I was 
 before to join the service over there. 
 
 "The more that I think about it and 
 the more that I hear of it, the more de- 
 sirous I am of getting into the Flying 
 Corps. If a man like Winslow, ^vith a 
 wife and daughter dependent on him, is 
 willing to take the risk involved, I see 
 no reason wdiy I should not. 
 
 "You mention the Amlnilance ,^ervice 
 in your last note. I have thought of 
 that quite a little and would delinitely 
 prefer the aviation. The ambulance is 
 worth wdiile, I think, in that it gives one 
 an opportunity to be of great service to 
 humanity, but not so much <;o as the 
 other. There will be a nunil)er (if mv 
 classmates who will enlist in the Amer- 
 can Ambulance Service this spring, Ijut 
 the air service appeals to me." 
 
 He then made arrangements with the 
 American representatives of the Lafav- 
 ette Escadrille to go to France on the 
 completion of his college year. 
 
 January 29 he wrote: 
 
 "I will get a physical examination in 
 a few' days. In regard to getting the 
 training over here first, I do not think 
 that it would be worth while. The in- 
 struction o\'er there would he first hand, 
 tried, for a definite purpose, and im the 
 whole superior to wh.at I could gel here. 
 I could also be picking up the laiiguage 
 and the hang of the country at the ^ame 
 time." 
 
 On February 24 he received word that 
 his papers, presented with his application 
 for admittance to the Franco-American 
 Flying Corps, assured him on their facr 
 of a welcome when he presented himself 
 in Paris. Ift was informed that if h'- 
 utilized his sjiare time in a\-ailing hirii- 
 self of any and every opportunit\' tn 
 familiarize himself with flying, it \\(n;id 
 shorten his stay in the Student Axiators 
 School in France. 
 
 On March 26: 
 
 "I haven't been able to find out an\- 
 thing dclinite ;ibout the school .at Alineula. 
 
 -Vs yet, no change has been announced, 
 to my knowledge, in reference to hasten- 
 ing up the course in event of the coming 
 of war. (J\er a hundred men have left 
 college ( I'rinceton ) already to start train- 
 ing for the Mosquito Fleet and the rest 
 of them are drilling every afternoon. 
 
 "\\'hat do _\ou think of the advisabilitv 
 of sto]:)ping college and going to some 
 a\'iation school ? Considering that it 
 takes several months to become at all 
 useful as an aviator and that war is |)rac- 
 tically inevitable now, I think it would be 
 wise to get started right away." 
 
 -\XXIOUS TO Li;.-\RX FRKXCII METHODS 
 OF FLYING 
 
 In a letter of April 3 : 
 
 "I saw in the morning paper that the 
 .\merican flyi-rs in France would be 
 transferred to .\merican registrv immedi- 
 ately after the declaration of war. When 
 >ou next see C.ener.al Squier, I wish that 
 you \vouId sound him on the pnibabilitv 
 of a force being sent to France to learn 
 to fly according to French methods. 
 Th;it is the one thing above all others 
 that I want to get into. If there is an\- 
 chance of tliat I do not waiU to get in- 
 voh'ed in anything else. 
 
 "It is (|uite certain that seniors who 
 leave college now. to go into military- 
 work', will receive their degrees. I would 
 nut object to losing the work, as it is 
 not my jireseiU intention to keep on with 
 theoretical chennstr\'. and th.it is wh.u I 
 am devoting my time to this spring. 
 From the stancljioint of edncitinn alone. 
 I think that my time could be more profit- 
 ably s;)ent in the study of ;i\iation." 
 
 Leave was granted b\' the nni\ersitv. 
 and on A])ril (1 11. Stuart W.alcott was 
 appointed a special assistant to Afr. Sid- 
 ni'y D. W'aldon, insjiectiir of airpkanes 
 and airplane motors. Signal .Sor\ice at 
 Large. He immediateh reported to Mr. 
 \\'aldon and worked with him through 
 -April. May i he went to Xewport Xews. 
 A'irginia. }ilay 2 he reported: 
 
 ".My first tri]) up w:is this afternoon 
 with \'ictor Carlstrom. We were nut i6 
 minutes and climbed 3.500 feet. It w.as 
 all \ery simple, getting up thert — ;i littL 
 wind and noise and some bumps and 
 pockets in the air — a glorious \ iew of the 
 harbor. 
 
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THE NATIONAL CKOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 89 
 
 "Then we started to come down. First 
 I saw the earth direetly helow through 
 the planes on the left. Then the horizon 
 made a sudden wild lurch and Newport 
 News appeared directly helow on mv 
 right. This continued for a little while 
 and then we started down at an angle f)f 
 aljout 30 degrees to the perpendicular, 
 turning as we went. I later learned that 
 Carlstrom had executed a few steep 
 hanks, or sharp turns, and then spiraled 
 down. It ended witli a very pretty land- 
 ing, following with a series of banks to 
 check speed. 
 
 "Flying, from my first impression, is a 
 very fascinating game and the one I want 
 to stay with for a while. I have signed 
 up for 100 minutes in the air. While this 
 100 minutes will not make me a flier hy 
 any means. I think it is well worth the 
 while, in that it gi\es me a little clement 
 of certainty in going ahrnad. I will know, 
 if all goes well, that 1 am not unable to 
 fly." 
 
 The next da\- he wrote : 
 
 "Two flights this morning; 2$ minutes 
 ill toto. The greatest sport I ever had. 
 Wonderful work. I did most of the work 
 after we got up a safe distance." 
 
 lla\ing ol)tained a certificate of too 
 minutes' flight and passed the necessary 
 I)hysical examination, he left for France, 
 arriving at 1 Bordeaux M:'v 31. and soon 
 reported at .\vord for tr.aining. 
 
 w.\lcott's lkttkks homh 
 
 Escolc d'Ai'iatiDu Milildirc. 
 
 ./:■('/■(/. Clirr, I'lOhcc. 
 I'rii/in', JiiIy / ,\ i<}i~. 
 You see, it"s Friday, the thirteenth, luy 
 lucky day, and I'm hajijiy because the 
 work is going \vell. First, I'll tell you 
 about a smash I had a wi-ek nr so ago. 
 The roller, or roiilriir. class which I 
 
 smashed in has the same machine 
 
 thr 
 
 that fly with a 45 P motor. ( )nly it is 
 throttled down, and we are supj^osed to 
 kee]i it on the ground — just aliout ready 
 to liy, but not quite getting up — a speed 
 of al)out 30 m. p. h. 
 
 When there is the slightest wind we 
 cannot roll, Ijccause the wind tm-ns the 
 tail around and swings the machine in a 
 circle — a wooden horse — chc7'al dc b(>is. 
 
 I rude about the end of the list Saturday, 
 and the w ind had come up as the day got 
 on. Work stops at 8.30 a. m. always, be- 
 cause there's too much wind. 
 
 JMy first sortie, or trip, went O K, with 
 a considerable breeze on the tail, but on 
 the second there was too much wind, and 
 after I got going pretty fast, around she 
 went. The wind caught under the inside 
 wing and up it went. Smash went the 
 outside wheel and a crackle of bursting 
 wood. All the front framework of wood 
 that holds the motor was smashed — a 
 pretty bad lireak. The monitdr was a bit 
 mad and talked to me a bit in French. 
 
 The next morning I was called in to 
 see the chief of the L'.leriot School, St. de 
 Chavannes, a very nice officer. He told 
 me that my monitor was not satisfied 
 w ith me : that he had told me to do some- 
 thing (cut the mntor when the machine 
 started U> turn ) three separate times, and 
 that each time I had intentionallv dis- 
 obeyed: that if anything like th.at hap- 
 pened again I would be "radiated" (dis- 
 charged from the .school). 
 
 That was quite the first I had e\er 
 heard of it, and I was so marl at the 
 monitor that 1 coulil have kicked him in 
 the head. I tried to explain to the lieu- 
 tenant. Init he never heard a word : >o I 
 just gurgled with wrath and didn't do 
 anything. But yesterday we got another 
 monitor, who is a dift'erent sort. 
 
 The class after roiilciir is dccoUct : it 
 is the same machine, but one gets off the 
 ground about a meter or two. then slacks 
 up on the motor and settles to the earth. 
 It i~; strictly forbidden to decoUct in the 
 roiilciir class. This morning I liad a 
 sortie in the roulcur. and all of a sudden 
 noticed that I was in the air a bit : man- 
 aged to keep it straight and get out of the 
 air without smasiiing. The monitor said 
 nothing, so I d re (diced on all the sorties. 
 
 When I got out the monitor exi)l;iine(l 
 that it was strictly forliidden to go off 
 the grotnid in the roiilciir class ; that I 
 shouldn't ha\e done it, and then asked 
 me if I would like to go up to the other 
 class. Whereupon, consenting. I am now 
 in the dccoUct class, leaving 1(1 rather 
 pee\ed .Americans who arrived in the 
 roulcur the same time I did. wlm can 
 perform in the roulcur (|uite a~ \\r\\ as I 
 
K 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ''• -5 
 
 go 
 
THE NATIONAL CF.OGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 91 
 
 can, and wlio will remain in the roiilriir that night — last night. Four sorties there 
 
 for some time yet. They've no grudge last night with a machine with a poor 
 
 against me, howe\er, as it was only a motor, s(.) didn't get up over lOO feet, 
 
 streak of luck on my part. And this morning I did my first real 
 
 Later in the morning I had some sor- axiating. There was a bit of a wind 
 
 ties in the dccollcitr and gut uji 2 or 3 blowing, so the monitor. Mr. jMoses, only 
 
 meters. The wind was too strong, so my let a lieutenant and me go up, as we had 
 
 trijis were a bit rough, but nothing was gone hi'tter than the others last night, 
 
 damaged: so hurrah for Friday, tlie First it was a liit rainy and alwavs bumpy 
 
 thirteenth. as the deuce — air puffs and pockets which 
 
 require the entire corrective force of the 
 wing warp and rudder to overcome. 
 ]\Iy last sortie was decidedly active. 
 
 July ly. joij. The wind had developed into a bit of a 
 
 The work has been going vcrv well breeze, which is to a Bleriot like a rough 
 
 since la>t 1 wrote you. which was only sea to a rowboat. Two or three times I 
 
 two nr three da_\ s ago. I told you about got a puff that tipped the machine way 
 
 at last leaving the blessed roulcur: I o\er — put the controls o\er as far as I 
 
 never was so relie\'ed in my life. could and waited. It seemed a minute 
 
 The first evening in the dccoUct class liefore she straightened. The trouble was 
 I was requisitioned to turn tails, and the tjiat the machine was climbing and there- 
 morning after there was too much wind fore not going very fast. If I had /'/(///af, 
 to work. The dccoUci is the one where it would have corrected quicker. 
 
 R.A.PID .\D\'AXCKMKXT AT TIIi: I'RKXCII 
 SCHOOL 
 
 \r)\AX'i' \r,i.;s of ttik i;li:rio'i' TRAixiNr. 
 
 you go up J or 3 meters and settle down 
 
 by cutting speed. The first time I had 
 
 three sorties in the wind, bounced around I had no trouble at all in making the 
 
 a lot, but did no damage. landing. Hopping out of the machine, I 
 
 The next time was" first thing in the saw the head monitor rushing over tu :\Ir. 
 morning. Two meters up on the first — Moses on the double, shouting volubly in 
 four or five on the fifth — strictly against French and lierating him severely. I 
 orders. I e\-en had to pique — point the gathered that he had been w.atching my 
 machine toward the ground — a little, maneuvers, expecting sumelhing to fail 
 which is not at all coiinnc i! font in the e\ery instant, and that he <trcnuonsl\ ob- 
 dccollct. If I had smashed while doing jected to Moses' letting me go iqi. WOrk 
 more than I was told to, there would have sto|iped there for the morning, and it was 
 been a lot of trouble : as it was, nn objec- \ery fully explained to me what the trou- 
 tion, and the monitor perscjually con- ble was. If I have some sorties there to- 
 ducted me to the pique cla^s with a \ er\' night, I go to tour du j^istc ( ll\ing field) 
 nice i-ecomiuendation. in the morning. I tuaybenn Xienpurt in 
 
 Xow thcj-e are two piqnc classes: one two weeks, 
 with a pisti-. al)OUt one-fourth of a mile I am now Ijeginning to see the ad\an- 
 
 long, in which one is sujiposed to du littli- tages of the P.leriot training. There is a 
 
 more than dccidlct. get up abiuit 5 meters great deal of preliminary work on or near 
 
 and pique a tout petit peu — hardl)' at all. the ground. In all other a\'iation train- 
 
 .■\fter comes the advanced pique, with a ing, such as at Xewport News, on ]ier 
 
 much longi'r piste, on which one can get cent of the W"rk is in making landings — 
 
 up too meters (300 feet). in iii(|UL-ing down, redressing at the 
 
 On mv first sortie in the pique. I was proper moment and m;d<ing gradurd con- 
 told to roll on the ground all the way: so, nections with the earth, 
 continuing mv policv, did a low deeoHet. 1 ha\en't made a really bad landing yet. 
 Xext I \vas sup|iosed to do a _'-meter and the reason is that I have been in a 
 deeollet. so went up ten and piijued. llad ni.uln'ne -^o nuich on ;md near the ground 
 ten sorties in that class one morning, that 1 \vdw sort of dexeloped a sense or 
 getting as high as I could — about 20 me- feel of it. anrl .almost autoiuaticallv rc- 
 ters — and went to the advanced piijtte dress correctl\- and settle easily: aUo I 
 
92 
 
 THK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 can tell iirclly closely what is flying speed 
 because of the work on the rollers. It"s 
 the same way with all the other students, 
 only I know it now from my own ex- 
 perience. 
 
 And this morning I began to realize 
 that my lOO minutes at Newport News 
 was invaluable. I not only found out 
 some of the tricks of a master hand 
 (Carlstrom), but also developed a bit of 
 confidence in the air, and air sense, with- 
 out which I could have gotten into trouble 
 this morning. 
 
 My bumpy ride this morning is abso- 
 lutely invaluable. I'll probably never 
 have so much trouble in the air again, be- 
 cause a fast machine, or even a I]leriot 
 with a good motor, would hardly have 
 noticed those puffs. It was a bit risky, I 
 guess, or the head monitor would not 
 have been worried ; but now that it's over 
 I know a lot more. 
 
 .\ FLYER IX .\ BE.AN P.\TCH 
 
 August .'5, /p/7. 
 
 I started for my altitude test three 
 days ago. The requirement is one hour 
 above 2,000 meters. I got to 1,950 meters 
 and one cylinder refused to fire, so I 
 was forced to come down. 
 
 The next morning I tried again ; got 
 to 900 meters and the magneto ceased to 
 function, thereby stopping all progress. 
 I glifled towards home, but didn't have 
 quite the height to make the piste, so had 
 to land in a near-by field, just dodging 
 a potato patch. A flock of curious sheep 
 came around and carefully examined the 
 machine, getting mixcfl up in the wires 
 of the open tail construction and leaving 
 considerable wool thereon. 
 
 When the mechanics eventually got 
 the motor going, I started off; didn't 
 .get quite in the air before the motor went 
 bad, and then I ran into a bean patch, 
 gathering about a bushel of beans with 
 tlie same tail wires. Yesterday morning 
 I tried again : climbed to 2,000 in 14 min- 
 utes and to ,-^.500 meters (11,500 feet) 
 in 40 minutes. 
 
 I went up through some light clouds, 
 and when I got to 3,500, the top of my 
 recording barograph, more clouds had 
 formed and I was practically shut off 
 from the earth, nothing but a sea of 
 
 clouds below me — a very beautiful sight. 
 (Jne other machine was in sight, far be- 
 low me, but on top of the clouds. 
 
 Not wanting to get lost, I came down 
 through the clouds and stayed out my 
 hour, just above 2,000 and below the 
 clouds, where the air was very mncl: 
 churned up, keeping me very busy. Just 
 as soon as the time was up I came down, 
 with a pair of chilled feet, making the 
 2,000 meters in five minutes to the 
 ground. No work since then on account 
 of bad weather. 
 
 This morning I attended my first Cath- 
 olic funeral, that of the commandant of 
 the school, who was the victim of a mid- 
 air collision, a very unusual accident. 
 The other machine got down safely, 
 though badly smashed. Everybody in 
 camp attended the funeral in the chapel 
 of the artillery camp next door. I under- 
 stood none of the service, but the music 
 by a tenor and a 'cello was excellent. 
 While the cortege was going down the 
 hill to the cemetery, a Nieuport circled 
 overhead very low for half an hour or 
 more and dropped a wreath. It was a 
 very impressive ceremon\% 
 
 I e.xpect to start on triangles and petits 
 voyages in a few days. When they are 
 done, I \\\\\ be a breveted flyer in the 
 French army. Then comes perfeetionnc 
 work and acrobacy ; so it will be quite 
 a while yet for me. 
 
 Tlir: WILD MAN IX THE XIEITORT 
 
 Septonhcr I. /p/7 
 
 The wild man in the Nieuport was out 
 again this morning giving some one a 
 joy ride. There is a long straight stretch 
 of roail in front of our piste and he 
 came down that several times, a nasty, 
 puffy wind blowing which bothered him 
 not at all, flying only two or three feet 
 oft' the .ground. 
 
 In front of the piste is a telephone wire 
 crossing the road. He came along the 
 road 100 miles an hour until almost on 
 top of the wire, and jum])ed up just in 
 lime to clear it by a few feet — really 
 beautiful work. He goes all over the 
 surrounding country flying low. hopping 
 over trees and houses — sometimes turn- 
 ing up sideways to slip between two trees 
 a bit too close tocfether to flv throusrh — 
 
THE NATIOXAL GEOGRAPHIC I\IAGAZ!XE 
 
 93 
 
 sometimes dragging a 
 wing througii t It e 
 space between a cn- 
 jilc iif hangars nr (Id- 
 ing vertical \iragcs 
 jn^l in frcint of tliein. 
 
 It doesn't seem pos- 
 sible that any man can 
 lie so much a part of 
 his machine, can be so 
 consistently accurate 
 that he ne\er misses. 
 For this chap, Lu- 
 luiere, has ne\ er h;id 
 a smash. 
 
 A ch.ap n a m e d 
 l.nughr.an started (ill 
 on line of bis lirexct 
 \ o\ ag'es a few days 
 before 1 got ready fur 
 lire\et. i le got i|nite 
 ;i wa\s along, ran intd 
 a stiirm, went ,'ibo\ e 
 it. gilt caught in a 
 cloud. Ivept iin tor 
 quite a lung wa\. be- 
 ing drifted b\- a strung 
 wind, tlien came iliiwn 
 through the cliiuils 
 and fnuni.l that they 
 were iinl\- 400 feet 
 abii\e the ground. 
 
 After .a \\dnle In- 
 found a place In land 
 and came di i\\ n safely. 
 lie went tu a farm- 
 house, got his niachine 
 guarded a.nd lied 
 down. In ihe mean- 
 time, \\ I ird had spread 
 ii\ er ibe ciinntr\ side 
 that ;in a\ i.ator h.ad 
 cnnie diiun there and 
 
 the entire pi i]iulali(in c.atne mU In Imi 
 him ii\ er. 
 
 Ptii>tMirra!>h liy Western Xe\v?paper Uni'^ii 
 
 sfif IX rsi: iiv Till-. f.\iTi:D sT.\Ti:s .\i;mv .\vi.\toi;s 
 
 'J'lie aiinian canii.it In elail tmi u.iniilv. Recently in an .lUitude 
 lli?,'lit ,Tn It.iliau aviator. Lieiileiiant Guiiln (.aiidi. cncmintfreil .1 tcm- 
 1" r.itiire nf S'l) de.itroes liclow zero at a height of 10,750 feet. Init he 
 oonlinneil in iiimint .•inotlier mile. 
 
 Wbeiiexcr he' i\eiil ti> Ihe lillle tnwn 
 
 in the vicinity, all the kuK fiilliiwcl him 
 
 .\ grand ei|ui])age ilro\e up with a arimnd the streets: and when at last he 
 
 Ci.iunt vJ.io lixed in a ne.ir-liy ch.Ueau. lelt he was presented witli a multitude 
 
 lie insisted tjiat I'a.ldie come to the cha- nt biiui|Uets .md had In kiss e.ach .and 
 
 teau ;ind acce]it tiieir hnspiiality. There e\er\' dniinr. Me brought b.ick pictures 
 
 the fnrtunate bal stayed live days — the ol tile chateau — a dcdigbtflll-Ii inking old 
 
 Countess talked h'ngiisb. ,iiid .iNn some pkice — and niimernns addresses. 
 
 honse-ifuests. I ie hadn't bruuiiht a trunk, 
 
 , •■ , - , , 1 III. MKsi t KllSs-Cln^\■rK^ ri.nair 
 sii liorrowed razor, etc.. Irom the Count — 
 
 went down tn see the machine every day Scptciuhcr /, l<.)i~. 
 
 in the barnni.al b.irouche. At Last tile two weeks nf wind .and 
 
STrili:X'l' AMI I XSTRl'Cri NG .WIATdK 
 
 MAKING N()Ti:S m- 1-1;aTS 01* MKX 1\ TlIK ATI; 
 
 The aTiiniiin oi .k tual ll\in.t; liiiu- allnttril [>• a >UuKnt aviator at a trainui:,; >chiii>l is 
 ci'injiaratix i-l) Itru-f. A maji'i' porliMii "! lii> instriu'tii iii i^ dcrixrd t'roin waliiini;; llii-: niist^ik^'^ 
 lit' iitluis and in linng t<i1cl linw to renu'dx liis own (k-fn-ts. carrl'>ill\' ncitcd liy cxixris wliilr 
 lie is "iiii." 
 
 rain has ccasccl ami imw it is pcrlect 
 wcalhcf — a bit of a bixx-zc and lots of 
 still for till,' last two (la\s. Yesterdav 
 iiioriiiii!;- tluTi.- wi-rcn't iiiotigli machines 
 to go around, so 1 did not work, mak- 
 ing the ciglith consecutive day I hadn't 
 ste])pe(l in a machine. 
 
 Last evening I, at last and with much 
 rejoicing, started out on my "maiden 
 vovage" to another school about <>o kilo- 
 meters away (37.5 miles). It was de- 
 lightfully easy — nothing to do but climb 
 _> or 3 thousand feet and just sil there 
 .•\nd w.atcli the country unfold, c imp.aring 
 
 the map-like surtace of the earth spread 
 out below with the map in the machine. 
 In good weather it is very easy to follow, 
 spot roads, towns, wooils. rivers, and 
 bridges. Railroad tracks get lost at high 
 altitudes and are harder to find anyway. 
 ( )ne has to keep an eye open for a 
 l>lace to land within gliding distance in 
 case of a paniic ;ilw;iys ; but the country 
 is so flat and so miicli cultivated around 
 here that it is absurdly simple. I en- 
 deavored always to keej) some pleasant- 
 looking house or chateau in range in case 
 I if trouble, for the French are jiroverb- 
 
 94 
 
THE XATIOXAL GEOGKAnilC M_\GAZIXR 
 
 95 
 
 iaily hospitable to aviators cit piiiiiic 
 (lying to, descending). 
 
 Coming back yesterday evening, the 
 sun was pretty low and the air al)solutely 
 calm — nothing but the drone of the motor 
 and the wind : the only movements neces- 
 sary an occasional slight pressure on the 
 joy-stick to one side or the other to keep 
 the proper direction. I came very nearh- 
 going to sleep, it was so ])eaceful up 
 there ; several times closed my eyes and 
 swayed a liit. 
 
 As a matter of fact, one is perfectly 
 safe at that altitude — anything over a 
 thousand feet — because the machine. ;it 
 least this particular type, won't get into 
 any position from which one cannot get 
 it out within 200 meters at most. Rut 
 nevertheless I haven't tried any im- 
 promptu falls as }'et. 
 
 This morning I repeated the same 
 identical performance, because for some 
 reason we have to do two "pctits voy- 
 ages," and had much the same kind of 
 a time as yesterday. On the way home 
 one cylinder quit its job and threw oil 
 instead, covering me from liead to foot 
 and clouding up my goggles so I had 
 til wipe them off aljout every minute. 
 When I got back the mechanics decided 
 that that motor had died of old age and 
 would have to be repaired, so I am again 
 without a machine. 
 
 Have watched a beautiful afternoon 
 pass by from the barracks, when with- 
 out my luck I'd be working. But with 
 a machine and weather I can be finished 
 tomorrow ; two triangles to do, about 200 
 kilometers C125 miles') each, and I can 
 do one in the morm'ng and the other in 
 the evening ami then I'm breveted. Per- 
 ha]is 1)V dav after tomorrow I'll start 
 pcyfcctio)inc on Xieuport. I hope so. 
 
 FLVixc. ix .\ xii:rrriRT 
 
 September 0. 10 1 J. 
 Since iV.y last to father, I have had 
 some \er\- interesting times. First, I tin- 
 ished m\- lire\ et with very little excite- 
 ment, made all my xoyages. ;md only got 
 lost a little bit once. Then I saw two ma- 
 chines on the ground in a field, made a 
 rather dramatic spiral and steeply banked 
 descent nn'dst a crowd of \illagers. and 
 got awav with it : then found that the 
 
 machines belonged to two monitors who 
 were bringing them from I';iris .and had 
 elTected a paiiiie de elialeaii. 
 
 I'lcins: demanded what 1 was doinsj. I 
 fortunately found a sjiark plug on the 
 burn and got that repaired, and "alley 
 oop!" The rest of it was very easy — a 
 bit of fixing in the rain which stings the 
 face a bit. but is not bad otherwise. 
 
 Since I have been on the Xieuport. 
 There are three sizes of machines on 
 which one is trained, starling with the 
 larger double-command and going to the 
 smallest. At Pan we got another even 
 smaller, about as big as a half a minute. 
 I^'our times I went out without .a ride — 
 bad weather, crowded class, and hurted 
 machines: the same old stoiw. 
 
 Then last night I hail nn first rides 
 with a monitor wlm is rather oldish, 
 crabbed, and new at his joli — ;i brand- 
 new aviator. As you know, when an air 
 pla)ie takes a turn, it doe^ not rem.ain 
 horizontal, but hanks up — cdimiie ea (if 
 you can interpret th.it illustration : it 
 shows signs of remark.ihle imaginative 
 
 power). .Ilors, one b.anks to 
 
 ( trees ), takes a turn, and uses the rudder 
 only a very little Iiecause the machine 
 turns along when b.anked. There is a 
 siirt of falling-out feeling the first few- 
 times, until one becomes a part of the 
 m.aclnne. 
 
 To get back to the story : This monitor 
 does not like to bank his machine, and 
 sort of sidles round the corners, keeping 
 it qm'te flat and almost slip|iing out to the 
 outside of the turn. T have done many 
 fool things in a machine and made many 
 nnslakes, Init nexcr h;i\e I been so scared 
 in .anything in my life as when riding 
 with this monitor. .\ monitor is sup- 
 posed til Kt the |iui)il dri\e as much .a'^ 
 he is able, but this bird never let me make 
 a move, and when we got through told 
 me I was too brutal. 
 
 I was never madder in my life and 
 cursed nice .American cuss -words ,all the 
 way home. There's a 15-kilo ride in a 
 seatless tractor l)ack to camp to improve 
 ;i bad humor. 
 
 "TIIK M \nnKST MAX I KV'KR S\w" 
 
 Well, this morning I saw some more 
 rides impending and didn't like it, so 
 
yo 
 
 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 asked the clicf dc piste to put me with 
 aiiotlier monitor, lie liad to know why, 
 and I retjistcred my kick, which practi- 
 cally said that tlie first monitor didn't 
 know his Inisiness and couldn't drive ; 
 that I was scared to ride with him. The 
 chef was a bit sarcastic, and told me to 
 take two rides with another monitor to 
 show how / could make a viracic. I did 
 it the way I've been accustomed to ; made 
 a fairly short turn. When we got down, 
 the monitor said. "Eclatante" (Am. 
 "stunning"), or something like that, to 
 the chef. 
 
 The chef had meanwhile communi- 
 cated my complaint to the first monitor, 
 and he was the maddest man I ever saw. 
 Demanded what "ce type la." indicating 
 me. wanted : said the rirar/es I had just 
 made were dangcrousiv banked (the 
 monitor I was with didn't mind, though). 
 ;ind then all three started arguing at once 
 at me and I spelled all the French I knew. 
 
 Then, of all things, the lieutenant, with- 
 out further remarks, said I was to con- 
 tinue with my first monitor. My heart 
 sank into mv lioots. I had visions of 
 staying in that class without rides, or 
 with only rides and figlits, for months. 
 I rode no more this morning, and what 
 was my delight to find this evening that 
 my bewhiskercd pal had left on feniiis- 
 sioii. 
 
 I got another monitor, a fine one, who 
 l)ut his hands on the side of the machine 
 and let me do everything, with a bit of 
 assistance on the landing, which is difi^er- 
 ent from wliat I've been doing on the 
 Caudron. Seven rides and a finish — the 
 2,vmeter tomorrow morning. 1 wasn't 
 very good, but got l>v. 
 
 Septeuilier 14, IQIJ. 
 Things for me are going all right. 
 Have made progress on the Xieuport 
 since last I wrote and will lly alone soon. 
 .•\s regards the I'. ?. .\rniy, things are at 
 a standstill until 1 get to I'.-iris. which 
 will be a week or so. 1 h<jpe to go to the 
 front in a French Fscadrille and in an 
 American uniform. Some say it cm be 
 done: some that it cannot. It sounds so 
 sensible that 1 am afraid there must be 
 some regulation airainst it. 
 
 TI11{ TRUCK S.\I.V.\GI':s TIIK WKICCK WHEN 
 .\ I'Ul'lU "C.M'OTES" 
 
 September 2y, igi/. 
 
 Since last 1 wrote a regular letter, con- 
 siderable has taken place. First, I am 
 now at Pau, having finished up Avord. 
 Have sent post-cards to father right 
 along to keep track of movements. After 
 lirexet was over, I did not take the cus- 
 tomary permission of 48 hours, but went 
 straight to work on Nieujiort D. C. 
 ( double command ) . ( )ne cannot learn a 
 great deal riding with an instructor — only 
 about enough to keep from smashing in 
 landing, because one never knows when 
 the instructor is messing with the con- 
 trols, when it's one's self. 
 
 There are five kinds of Xieuports — 
 dift'ering mainly in size, the smaller being 
 faster and more agile in the air, better 
 adapted to eccentric flying. They are 28, 
 23, 18, 13, 13 (the Baby Nieuport). At 
 Avord I had about a week of D. C. on 
 28 and 23 (the numbers refer to size of 
 wings), with se\-eral days of no work. 
 Then some days on 2}, alone, and finally 
 on 18 alone. 
 
 The landings are a bit dilTerent from 
 those of the machines I had been flying, 
 as they are faster, and the machines are 
 quite nose-heavy. In the air the nose- 
 heavy feature makes them "fly them- 
 selves" — that is, according to the speed 
 of the motor the machine will rise and 
 climb or pique and descend, with never a 
 touch from the jiilot. If the weather is 
 not \ery bad. tin- Xieuport will correct 
 itself automaticalh' from all displace- 
 mt-nts. 
 
 I'ut in landing the nose-heavy feature 
 causes a great many capotages. If the 
 landing isn't done about right with the 
 tail low, over she goes on her nose or all 
 the way onto her back. It is a very com- 
 mon occurrence and has become almost 
 a joke. When a pupil "capotes," every- 
 l)ody kids him. No one hurries over to 
 see if he is hurt: not at all He climbs 
 out from under, usually cursing, and in 
 ten minutes the truck is out to salvage 
 the wreck. 
 
 It is astounding the way smashes are 
 taken as a matter of course, ^'esterday 
 one oli;ip in landing hit ;niother machine. 
 
Iiy Ivlwin I.L ^ i<-'k 
 
 A TRIO or l'I,AXi:S AT A TI;AIXIXG camp for A\'IATi)KS 
 
 In tlic "air colleges," wliicli llie .nc'Mrninint has estaljlished recently , tlie tinie between 
 matricnlation and graduation is measured in nmnths instead of years, luit it the period of 
 education is shorter in these schools than in regular colleges the expense is in inverse ratio. 
 A conservative estimate of the cost of training an aviator is from $10,000 to $-;o,ooo. <".reat 
 tracts ('t land are required for ground schools; man.\- airplanes must he kept on hand, as the 
 breakage is heavy, and repairs are often tedic.ius: nmtor trucks and mutnrcycles are neces- 
 sary subsidiary equipment. 
 
 (ieiiioli.shing both, but not touching either 
 pilots, bei(;ig worth soine .? 15,000 or 
 !?25,ooo. liut no one .seemed to worry — 
 it's very much a matter of course. The 
 monitor was a little peeved becatise he 
 will l)e short of machines for a few days, 
 bill that was all. Fee seen ;is many ,is 
 ten machines flat on their backs, or with 
 tails high in the air, on one field at the 
 same time. 
 
 For myself, I lia\ eii't ca[ioted or busted 
 any wood since the lUeriot days, Init Fm 
 knocking on the wooden t.ible ikav. ( )n 
 several occasions it h;is been (inly luck 
 ih.at saved me. as F\e m.ade in.in\' rntten 
 landings, 
 
 Weil, to .get back to the diary, .\fler 
 tinisliing at .\yonl, I waited around for 
 two days to get pajiers fixed ii]>, re- 
 quested and obtained ;i pcyiiiixsidii, and 
 
98 
 
 THE NATIONAL GK.OGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 then decided not to use it and left straiglit 
 for I'au, after fond farewells to the 
 friends I've been with for y/2 months, 
 r^ooking back, I didn't have' such a bad 
 time at Avord after all. though I did get 
 terribly tired of the living conditions. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF TRAVELING IN FRANCE 
 IN WAR TIME 
 
 My trip to Pan I put down to experi- 
 ence. I discovered one schedule not to 
 travel by in future. Leaving Avord at 
 .^.15, I got to Bourges at 2.45 and found 
 that the train left at 7.29. Fortunately, 
 there was another chap from the school 
 on the train, Arthur Blumenthal, an old 
 Princeton football star, whom I have 
 gotten to know ciuite well, so we man- 
 aged to waste the afternoon together; 
 almost made ourselves sick on candv and 
 then ate ourselves stupid at the hotel at 
 dinner time. 
 
 At 7.29 I started another half-hour's 
 journey, at the end of which the time- 
 table said that the train for IJordeau.x 
 left at 10.30 (this is all p. m.). At this 
 town there were some American eno-i- 
 neers. so I embraced the fellow-country- 
 men in a strange land. Finished up a 
 not very gay evening by attending the 
 movies — a most odd institution. Clouds 
 of tobacco smoke obscured the screen, 
 and most of the action was around the' 
 bar at one side of the hall. Nobody was 
 drunk, but nearly every one was drink- 
 ing and very gay. This was merely Sat- 
 urday night in a small town of the prov- 
 inces ; not in gay Parce. 
 
 At 10.15 1 got in a first-class compart- 
 ment and tried to find a comfortable po- 
 sition in which to sleep. At 2.15 a. m. I 
 had mussed u|) my clothes considerably, 
 lost my temper and not slept a wink! 
 Then we had to change again. The rest 
 of the morning I sat opposite an .Amer- 
 ican officer, a queer old foge\-, and we 
 tried to kid each other into "thinking we 
 were sleeping, with no success. Arrived 
 at Bordeaux at 7 a. m. and found that 
 the train for Pan left immediately, .so I 
 missed out on breakfast, too— oh, 'it was 
 a hectic trip. My idea of a very unpleas- 
 ant occujiatinn is that of a traveling 
 salesman in I'rance. '^ 
 
 ni'AUTKUKI) WITH HEROES OF THE 
 
 LAI■•A^■ i;tte escadrille 
 
 Escadrille Spa-S^, 
 Scctcitr Postal 181 
 Par A. C. M.—Pa'ns. 
 November i, i()ij. 
 Well, I'm here— in sight of the from 
 at last. To date I haven't been out there 
 yet and won't for a few days more, as 
 they take lots of care of new pilots and 
 don't feed them to the Roche right away. 
 Probably day after tomorrow the lieu- 
 tenant in command will take me out to 
 show me around the lines, and after that 
 I'll take my place in oatrols with the 
 others. 
 
 The work is exclusively patrolling, 
 establishing, as it were, a barrage against 
 German machines and preventing as far 
 as possible any incursions of the French 
 lines. .Xs the big attack is over, there 
 is com]iaratively little activity. Some- 
 times one goes for a whole patrol with- 
 out being fired on and without seeing an 
 enemy machine anywhere near the lines. 
 During the three days I've been here 
 the group has accounted for several 
 Boches without any losses whatever. 
 Young Bridgeman, of the Lafayette Es- 
 cadrille, had a bullet through his' fuselage 
 just in front of his chest, but suffered no 
 daniage except from fright. 
 
 There are several escadrillcs in the 
 group — a Croupe de Combat it is called ; 
 all have Spads, which makes it very nice. 
 The Lafayette, 124, is of our group and 
 have adjoining barracks, which makes it 
 very nice (I seem to repeat) for us lone 
 y\mcncans in French Escadrille. We 
 drop in there far too often and the first 
 few nightsi used the bed of the famous 
 Bill Thaw's room-mate, away on per- 
 mission. 
 
 Did I write you that one morning he 
 brought in Whiskey to wake me up.'and 
 my eyes no sooner opened than my head 
 was buried under the covers. Whiskey 
 IS a pet— a very large lion cub— which 
 has unfortunately outgrown its utility as 
 a jiet and was sent yesterday, with its 
 running mate, Soda, to the zoo, at Paris, 
 to l)e a regular lion. 
 
 They are a very odd crowd— the mem- 
 bers of the Lafayette Escadrille— a few 
 nice ones and a bunch of rather rough- 
 
(r) r>r(.\vn S: Dawson 
 
 Tui': Tvi'i'; oi" yavim; wiircn madi'. tim", ni^sr \ii; umds ox Paris 
 
 This pl;iiK-. wlmsi' laitspread tail ami vnundcd wings su ^luscly rescinblc ilmsc of a Iiird, 
 is too slow In contend with llic )MiS t\ pe nf IJ.S-niik-s-an-Iionr niarhiiK- which is now a cimi- 
 monplaco ui tlic Western I- rent. I*^ is to the latest speedster warjilane what the "one-hmger" 
 anti'niohilc of fifteen years ago is to the u-cylinder racer of today. This style airplane still 
 has its uses in tlie a\iation schools, however. 
 
 necks. I heir convcrstitioii is an c_\e- 
 opener for a nc-w arrival. ^lostly ahuiit 
 Paris, [icrmissions, ami the riw dr Hravi', 
 hut occasionally ahotit w urk ami that is 
 intcrcstin.<^. Xnnchalaiit dncsn't cxjircss 
 it. Whcii Bridjjjy got shot up, as incn- 
 lioncil .'iliovc, they all kidileil the life out 
 of him, ami when he got the Croix cle 
 fjuerre, thev had hint almost in tears — 
 just liecause he's the kifhlahle kiml. 
 
 But in talking ahout the wcirk. for in- 
 stance, lim llall: "I piqmil <in him with 
 full inutor ;ind got so darn close to him 
 
 ill it when 1 w.iiited Ici open fire I \v.is so 
 scared <if running into him tli.it I li.id to 
 yank oiU of the way and so never lired 
 a single ^h(jt." 
 
 ( 'r I.titlierry just mentions in passing 
 that he got another lioche this niiirning. 
 
 hut those ohserver jieople won't give 
 
 him credit for it. 1 le has 14 oftlcial now 
 .ami proh.ihly twice a> many more never 
 .ilhiwed Iiim. ."^nme d.'us .ago during 
 the alt.uk he h.id 7 figlits in one dav, 
 hrottght down (, of them .and got credit 
 lor one; which mtist lie discour.i'dii"-. 
 
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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 101 
 
 SEASICK IX TIIU AIK 
 
 Xovciiibcr IV, igij, 
 
 Evciiuuj. 
 
 You know November in France. I've 
 been here almost two weeks now and am 
 still a I'entrainment ; that is, I haven't 
 started in to do any regular work yet. 
 Only hve times have I been able to fly 
 in two weeks. But I've got my own 
 machine and mechanic, everything is in 
 order, and I've been assigneil to a patrol 
 the last two mornings when it rained. 
 
 Tomorrow again at 8. 50 with four 
 others — patrol for one hour .and tifty 
 minutes at about 15,000 feet, back and 
 forth o\-er our sector, sometimes over 
 our own lines, sometimes in Bochie. I'm 
 getting very impatient to get started. In 
 what few flights I've had, I've been work- 
 ing on acrobacy a bit and am gradually 
 learning a few simple things ; twice I 
 stayed up a little too long and had to he 
 down a few hours afterward, almost sea- 
 sick. 
 
 I like Spa 84 very much indeed. The 
 Frenchmen there are regular fellahs. 
 
 Wertheimcr, a sergeant, is a sort of in- 
 formal and unadmitted chief of the sous- 
 ofpcicrs. It is he that speaks English anrl 
 has hel])ed us a lot in getting settled, etc. 
 \'erv nnich of a gentleman he is and 
 understands a bit of Anglo-Saxon customs 
 and eccentricities, always gay and an in- 
 defatigable worker. 
 
 We have all been arranging the one 
 big room of our barracks — dining room, 
 reading-room, and jiroljably eventually 
 American b.ar. The walls are covered 
 with green clnth, green paper (of two 
 different shailes and neither quite the 
 same as the cloth), red cloth (on top as 
 a sort of frieze), and red paper. The 
 ceiling is done in white cloth to keep in 
 heat and lighten the room. A monumen- 
 tal task it has been, especially as ma- 
 terials are hard to get and expensive. 
 
 FKD AMAZIXCLV FOR I-nl-R I-RAXCS A DAY 
 
 W'ertem (as \\'ertlieimer is called) and 
 Deborte have done most of the w^rk. 
 Deborte is also chrf dc popotc. which 
 means h()Usekee]H-r, and a very efficient 
 man. For four francs per day we are 
 fed amazinglv well. es]H'cially when one 
 realizes that we are ne:ir the front in a 
 
 countr)- which has had three years of 
 war. Deborte hasn't the pleasantest man- 
 ner in the world at times, but usually is 
 very agreeable, willing to tell me things 
 about flying or the escadrille, always 
 ready to work, and a dependable man in 
 the air. 
 
 And Verber, who rooms with Wer- 
 tem, he speaks a little English ; has a 
 great deal of trouble understanding it, 
 but is picking up ; wears a monocle all 
 the time, because he's got a bum eye ; 
 carries a stick, and has an extremely ec- 
 centric appearance, but withal is very 
 agreeable and a very valuable man. He 
 has the habit of taking long trips all 
 alone, far into Germany, just to see what 
 is going on. 
 
 Pinot is the name of the little roly- 
 poly chap everybody calls Bul-Bul, whii 
 used to be a mechanic and now is a very 
 good, merry pilot. He has a great pen- 
 chant towards Pinard, is violently but 
 not at all objectionably non-aristocratic. 
 is forever laughing or kidding some one, 
 walks on his hands to amuse people, and 
 is the delight of all the mecanos. 
 
 Demeuldre is a very quiet sort of 
 school-boy type, who has Iieen a pilot of 
 ])iplanes and reconnaissance machines for 
 a long time. He came to the escadrille 
 recently with a record of two Bodies as 
 pilot of a biplane (that is, his machine- 
 gun man did the shooting and they l)oth 
 gel credit), and a few days ago bmught 
 ddwn a German in flames, his first as 
 piliit dc chasse. There are two others 
 aw.iy on permission, whom I don't know 
 yet. ' 
 
 KSCAPI.VG DESTRfCTIOX r.V .\ MIRACLE 
 
 Soiiirt^'luvc 111 Fniiicr. 
 Not'ciJibcr jj, /o/,". 
 
 Df.ar Father : Campbell was in the 
 Lafayette Escadrille and they are a mem- 
 Iier of the same group as Spa 84, so I 
 have asked them about him. He was on 
 a patrol with another chap ; they attacked 
 some Boches and when it was over the 
 other chap was alone. Campbell was 
 i)rought down in (k-rman territory and 
 so reported missing. I believe that the 
 chap he was with has seen and talked to 
 Campbell's father or some close rel.ative 
 since. 
 
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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 103 
 
 Another cliap named Bulkcly was 
 brought down in similar circumstances 
 about the first of September. Ten days 
 ago, word was received from the Amer- 
 ican Embassy that he had communicated 
 with them, a prisoner in Germany. There 
 are many similar cases, where men 
 brought down with crippled machines or 
 wounded, escape destruction by a miracle. 
 The only sure thing is when a machine 
 goes down in flames or is seen to lose 
 a 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 together ; collided in 
 the air. One cut the tail rigging com- 
 pletely off the other and they separated, 
 one without a tail and the other with 
 various parts of a tail mixed among the 
 cables and struts of one side of his ma- 
 chine. They both landed in France, one 
 on his wheels, followed by a capotagc, or 
 somersault turnover, the other quite com- 
 pletely upside down. Then a term in 
 the hospital and back they are again. 
 
 THRILLING FEATS OF DARING 
 
 Kenneth Marr, an American, had the 
 commands of both his tail controls cut 
 in a combat, the rudder and elevator, 
 leaving him nothing but the aileron — the 
 lateral balance control and the motor. 
 He landed with only a skinned nose for 
 casualties and got a decoration for it. 
 
 Another chap in an attack on captive 
 balloons, drachens, dove for something 
 like 10,000 feet vertically and with full 
 motor 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, flattening out his dive in the 
 merest fraction of a second. 
 
 Imagine the strain on the machine! 
 When he got home all the wires had sev- 
 eral inches sag in them : the metal con- 
 nections ot the cables into the struts and 
 wood of the wings had bit into the wood 
 enough to give the sag. 
 
 Machines are built to stand immense 
 pressure on the under side of the wings. 
 In some acrobatic maneuvers I was try- 
 ing the other day. I made mistakes and 
 caused the machine to stall and then fall 
 
 in such a way that the full weight was 
 supported by the upper surface — by the 
 wires, which in most machines are sup- 
 posed merely to support the weight of 
 the wings when the machine is on the 
 ground. 
 
 Yes, the Spad is a well-built machine — 
 the nearest thing to perfection in point 
 of strength, speed, and climbing power 
 I'xe seen yet. Of course, it's heavy, and 
 that's why they put 150 to 230 horse- 
 power in them. The other school, that 
 of a light machine with a light nidtor, 
 depending for its success on lack of 
 weight rather than excess of power, may 
 supjilant the heavier machine in time; I 
 can't tell. 
 
 WIIKX DECORATIONS .\RE DESToWI-.D 
 
 So, as any one who knows has said 
 right along, there is a long way to go in 
 the development of the J. N., or even the 
 little triplane, before American - built 
 planes get to the front. Of the liombing 
 game I don't know anything at all. 
 
 Yesterday there was a revue here in 
 honor of Guynemer and decorations for 
 the j)ilots of the group who had won 
 them. Three Americans received the 
 Croix de Guerre — members of the La- 
 fayette Escadrille. Lufbery, the Amer- 
 ican ace, carried the American flag pre- 
 sented to the escadrille by Mrs. jMcAdoo 
 and the employees of the Treasury De- 
 ])artnient, beside the two aviation em- 
 blems of France. 
 
 !Ie was called to receive his decoration 
 "for having in the course of one day 
 held seven combats ; descended one Ger- 
 man ])lane in flames and forced five 
 others to land behind their lines" (which 
 means that he is officially credited with 
 one, his thirteenth, and that the other 
 five, though probably brought down, do 
 not count for him because there were not 
 the necessary witnesses required by the 
 French regulation). 
 
 Being the bearer of the flag, he was a 
 very worried man to know what to flo 
 with the flag when he should go u]) to 
 get his medal, till one of the fellows in 
 124 (the Lafayette) came to his rescue. 
 For a military revue it was decidedly 
 amusing. Aviators are not very militarv. 
 
 The chief of one of the escadrille was 
 
10-1 
 
 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MA(; \ZINE 
 
 commissioned to command tiic mechanics 
 who are plain soldiers, with rifles and 
 steel helmets for the occasion. He is a 
 bit of a clown and amused the entire 
 gathering, kidding with the officers. The 
 pilots of each of the five escadrilles were 
 m more or less formation ; most of them 
 with hands in their pockets, for it was 
 cliilly, and presenting a mixture of uni- 
 forms unparalleled in its heterogeneity : 
 every branch of the service represented 
 and endless personal ideas in dress. 
 
 Because of the occasion, repos has been 
 granted to the entire group for the after- 
 noon, another group taking over our 
 patrols : so that after the revue every one 
 had the afternoon to waste — a sunny day. 
 whi(-h is quite unusual this month. 
 Within a half hour every machine that 
 was in working order was in the air. 
 forming into groups and then off for the 
 lines, just looking for trouble — voluntary 
 patrol they call it — which opened my eyes 
 a bit to the spirit in the French aviation 
 service after three years of war. 
 
 \\'ord from Paris that those .Ameri- 
 cans in the French service w'ho have de- 
 manded their release to join the U. S. A. 
 have obtained that release, which prob- 
 ably means that all we wait for now 
 . . . on the commissions. 
 
 This afternoon I took another trip w-ith 
 one of the old pilots to look over the sec- 
 tor. We stayed over France and didn't 
 get into trouble, although there were lots 
 of Boches around. Hope to get really 
 started soon. 
 
 An amusing one this morning: Two 
 pilots from the group were on patrol and 
 attacked a single German about two kilo- 
 meters behind the German lines. They 
 completely outmaneuvered him ; he got 
 cold feet and started for the French lines, 
 giving himself up. The funniest part 
 about it is that the machine gun of one of 
 the attackers was jammed and he couldn't 
 possibly have hurt the Hoche — just had 
 the nerve to stay and throw a bluff. 
 
 Tliev came back to camp just before 
 dark tliis evening, one of them flying tlie 
 German machine and the other guarding 
 him in a Spad. The machine is an .Alba- 
 tross monojilane (biplane), finished in 
 silver, with l)ig blade crosses on tlie wings 
 and tail — a really beautiful thing. It Hew 
 
 around camp for several minutes before 
 landing. It is the second machine that 
 has been scared down since I've been out 
 here. 
 
 A MIMIC COMDAT IN THE AIR 
 
 .It the Front, 
 
 Somcidiere in France, 
 November ij, igij. 
 
 .\t present things are hopelessly slow 
 on account of bad weather, so I have a 
 good deal of time to write and naught to 
 write of. I still am waiting for my bap- 
 tism of active service, which is assigned 
 for each day and held up on account of 
 fog, low clouds, or rain. In the after- 
 noon it usually lifts a little, not enough 
 to fly o\er the lines, but sufficient to per- 
 mit a little vol d'cntraiument — a practice 
 flight around the field. I've been taking 
 every chance to learn to fly — practicing 
 reversements, vertically banked turns, 90- 
 degree nose dives, etc. 
 
 Two days ago we had a very interest- 
 ing mimic combat in the air. The Boche 
 machine, which has been captured, and a 
 Spad, both driven by very clever pilots, 
 maneuvered for position during 15 or 20 
 minutes at i.ooo feet or less, back and 
 forth over the field, doing almost everv 
 possible thing in the air — changing direc- 
 tion with incredible rapidity, diving, 
 climbing, wing - slipping, upside - down 
 dives — everything under the sun. 
 
 Two of them were at it again today in 
 two vSjiads — just maneuvering. What a 
 lot there is to learn ! \\'hen I got through 
 acrobacy at Pan, I had the impression 
 tiiat that kind of stuff was relati\ely 
 easy : now I know dift'erent. For the 
 present I'm working on the system of try 
 one thing at a time ; get that fairly well 
 and then commence another. And small 
 doses — 10 or 15 minutes for an acrobatic 
 flight: not more — because one can easily 
 get dangerously sick in a very short time. 
 Not that there is anv particular peril in 
 getting ill in the air : only it's beastly 
 uncomfortable. 
 
 RATHER GET A BOCHE THAN' A COMMISSION 
 
 At the Front. 
 Souiczi'hcrc in France, 
 November jo, ipT~. 
 The rumor at the Lafayette Fscadrille 
 
this evenint; is that thi;y h.i\e been at 
 last transfci-rciL Of course, the\- had 
 similar rumors nianv times betore For 
 ni\sel£ 1 am becoming;' rather imhlTerent: 
 ver\' weU satisfied here, except for 
 weatlier, .iml gettinL,^ what I came over 
 here 1 or 
 
 I'ather mentioneil sumethiui; about a 
 nioiiitur's jiib (after I had had experience 
 at the frontj. Aly present inchnation is 
 decidedly against the idea. There is no 
 job in the world I like less to think of. 
 an<l there are ])lenty of people who want 
 to get comfortably settled in the rear; so 
 let them, say I, and may the\ enjoy it. 
 It IS not a vei\v ]ileasant job. 
 
 .\s a retirement after a jieriod ol serv- 
 ice at the fr<inl, it is another m.itter. Uf 
 
 all peiiple 1 can think' of 1 have the sui.ill- 
 est right to An aiiihiissc ji ilj at [ne^t iit , 
 so here I hnpe to stay. Whether 1 tly 
 with an Ainericaii or French unifurni, 1 
 don't care \er\- much at the ]5resent mo- 
 ment. I had r.atlier get a Iloche th.an any 
 commission in the arinv ; but one cannot 
 alw.ays tell about the future; [lerh.aps 
 after a few gdnd scares I'll be re.idv to 
 jump at a niunitur's ii)b. 
 
 Tin; sTi<i;x("/rii oi" .\ si'ad 
 
 .11 Ihc I'yuut. 
 
 iK-ccuibci- J. U)l~. 
 
 I tried to give \('U all some idea of the 
 
 strength of a Spad in a lelti'r a while ago. 
 
 .\t home people spe.ik uf a fai'tor of 
 
 safetv, meaning the luiniber nf times 
 
106 
 
 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 stronger the machine is than is necessary 
 for plain Hying. The Spad is made so 
 tliat a man can't burst it, no matter what 
 he docs in the air — dive as far and as 
 fast as he can and stop as brutally as he 
 can, it stands the racket. Of course, 
 motors do stop, and if it happens over a 
 mountain range — well, that's just hard 
 luck. 
 
 Have had a few patrols since last I 
 wrote ; one at a big height, 4,000 to 4,500 
 meters, considerably above the clouds, 
 which almost shut out the ground below, 
 a wonderfully beautiful sight, but beastly 
 cold, and a couple when the clouds were 
 low and solid. The patrol stays at just 
 the height of the clouds, hiding in them 
 and slipping out again to look around. 
 
 If it stays below, the enemy anti-air- 
 craft guns pepper it, whenever near the 
 lines and at a low altitude, that is rather 
 awkward ; so the patrol shows itself as 
 little as possible. 
 
 It's lots of sport to try to keep with 
 the patrol ; be behind the chief of patrol, 
 see him disappear and then bump into 
 a fog bank, a low-hanging cloud, and not 
 see a darn thing; then dive down out of 
 the cloud, wondering whether the other 
 guy is right underneath or not ; shoot 
 out of the cloud and see him, maybe 500 
 yards away, going at right angles ; then 
 bank up and turn around fast and give 
 her the gear full speed to catch up, and so 
 on ; see a Boche regulating artillery fire, 
 start to maneuver into range, and zip ! 
 he's out of sight in the clouds, and the 
 next you see he is beating it far back of 
 his lines. Not very dangerous this 
 weather, but lots of fun. 
 
 Chalous sitr Manic. 
 December S, ipi~. 
 Yesterday we were awakened at 6 and 
 told that we were going to move out, bag 
 and baggage, at 2. So, as new barracks 
 were not ready, we came down here last 
 nisjht and have been seeinir the sii/hts of 
 
 the town since. It is full of Americans, 
 ambulances, doctors, Y. M. C. A. work- 
 ers, everything but fighting men, which 
 I trust we'll see before long. 
 
 THE L.AST FLIGHT 
 
 On December 12, while on patrol, B. 
 Stuart Walcott met a German biplane 
 carrying two men. Three cable reports 
 agree that he shot down and destrovcd 
 this machine about two and a half miles 
 within the German lines. He then started 
 back for the French lines and was over- 
 taken by three Albatross German planes. 
 He was overcome and his machine went 
 down in a nose dive within the German 
 lines, it being assumed that either he was 
 shot or his machine disabled. 
 
 There was still a hope that he might 
 have escaped death. Inquiries were at 
 once instituted through the American Red 
 Cross and the International Red Cross, 
 with the result that on Januarv 7 a cable 
 came from the International Red Cross 
 stating that it was reported in Germany 
 that S. Walcott was brought down dur- 
 ing the afternoon of December 12 near 
 Saint Souplet. and that he was killed bv 
 the fall. 
 
 On January 11 the French Government 
 awarded the Croix de Guerre to the fallen 
 flyer, with the accompanying citation : 
 
 "Corporal Walcott, an American, who 
 volunteered for the duration of the war, 
 and a young pilot of admirable spirit 
 and courage, on December 12, 191 7. at- 
 tacked an enemy airplane. He pursued it 
 four kilometers behind the German lines, 
 where he brought it down. He was in 
 turn attacked by three other monoplanes 
 and was driven down." 
 
 The medal was received on his behalf 
 by members of his squadron and has been 
 forwarded to his father. Dr. Charles D. 
 \\'alcott. Secretary of the Smithsonian 
 Institution, Washington. 
 
i^ 
 
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