Show I Ir r it FIGHTING THE FLYING CIRCUS Bv By Capt Cant Edward V. V y ry y pedal arrangement with tho Cw iw yn right ht 1 1913 1919 1 th A. A n Cop Cop- to ht 1119 t hr ho v V 1 All 11 ht rt O ht tc l t I lu Great Orent aunt and All 11 rl 1 tv d for or Sane sec hm linden Italy Spain Spats sla tc tie Sc I n r 11 from rom rome yesterday e N 16 and amI the olang o loped Sun that I fancied Ie be c c retting the walls over my cel ng ng cot were still leering at ne 11 nom from he fat tat sides s of or the HumpIer as it ites es esi s leisurely lreh to the ground 4 t Flier Flier Filer of or III UN UIN r Error Af Ai 1 I took m my m melancholy yet et griste- griste I ul ut way homeward I reviewed and ard I hedged up tho events c of or the morning resolved resol then lion and there never nC a again aln alno elation or r c dr- dr r- r o permit premature o of an any land Rood good or 01 lI b.-lI haul bad affect t us usher s o 0 3 pile ile m my temper r and mc her hc had this morning Fate ha lial l I been lIeen and i L had had good to mo ped miraculously with only only h a. a few I bullet holes through m my wings s. s hut but I could never expect to be so again It was was with a chastened spirit that I confronted our a re fea minutes minutes minutes min min- utes later and told him about m my Jam Instead of or bringing a i severe ere punishment punish h- h ment nt to the careless mechanics mechaniC's who ha had tested In my gun un and and ammunition I mildly suggested that that tU they make a more stringent ent examination of ot my i cartridges hereafter At this this this' time I i W wits was s seco second d In ccmmand com command mand of or Squadron 94 91 and as one of ot the privileges of or the tho office I could louhI KO go o off on voluntary patrols at any inY anytime lU time limo I desired so long as such proceedings pro did not Interfere with riy required duties I naturally pr preferred t going b by myself for tor I felt Celt no sibil It for tor oth other r pilots under un-Jer such uch circumstances and I half naif a much t Letter elter chance o of stealing up clo close e t. t to enemy aeroplanes without discovery Tn formation for C mation matlon flying Iring the whole flight 1 Is limited limited limited lim lim- to the speed and altitude de of nr Its weakest member Formation flying is Vcr very valuable to to an Inexperienced pilot but after aCler ono one has hag learned to tal take care of ot oneself ono ono nc prefers to go 10 out with a roving ro commission The morning following m my disappointing ap- ap pointing encounter with No 11 16 of oC tie tae Rising Sun squadron I lIt vel ver to tom tomy tomy my m hangar at an cad early hour to see that all was rl right ht vita mv my machine Inside the shed I found the mechanics bus busy with my mr Iho lie tin gun had been dismounted and nd was still in tl tlc tie e repair shop Some defect had 1 cn discovered In the tho they told me and it had hat been toV v to t. ke t kc it to the tho gun un repair shops for far I tion My machine v vs s out o 0 of C.- C. commission corn com m- m I mission for that lay j I Harro II Looking over the available machines m c ie I found that Lieutenant Smyths Smyth's hs h's Nicu- Nicu Ip II port was In good condition although I 1 tho guns were not correctly aligned it II according to Smyths Smyth's Judgment He rend readily II consented to my using it ft for fora a little patrol though this necessitated l his behind I knew nothing of nr the capabilities of or his machine nachine el et elI etI t I was plea pleased ed to tr try the efficacy of his fils twin gun mounting My Iy I o wn Nicu- Nicu IN port carried but one gun g I Flying high over over Nancy anc an and Toul and Commercy I 1 tried first to learn the topmost of or Smyths Smyth's ma chine The highest altitude It should be explained to which any ma machine hine can climb is controlled L' L oy cy the s Increasing rarity of oC the atmosphere The higher one rises the greater r sped is required to enable the tho thinner i al air to sustain the weight of the aeroplane i Consequently the limit f c altitude le for any given machine depends upon t t o L o 0 factors its horsepower ind Its weight we I ro fo climb an extra thousand feet teet you ou I must must appreciably increase tLe hO se ho fe power or the tho weight To re resume resume re- re I sume I reached OOOO feet teet and found that Smyths machine would go no higher I fired a a. few bursts burRt from Crom ceh th gun and found that they operated lell smoothly Everything E appearing app t tJ t 1 le leall e c all right rig I headed for lor G Germany I nd ind l Lt- Lt c- c gan to scour the hostile skies For a time nothing appeared Then again I coming cominS' from the direction o of Metz I l j observed ed a a. a photographing two two seater tar accompanied b by two scouts acting as protectors German Humpier ar Acting upon the same samo tactics that had appealed to me yesterday I 1 turn turned d back into the sun an and awaited their ng I over our lines To m my delight I 1 saw the two fighting I t esco-t c t c-t the Bumpier fairly across our lines and then themselves turn back into Germany German Ger Ger- man many The They had hall not seen me and c evidently evi elt- 1 1 dently considered their protection no 1 longer long necessary I hugged t he sun closely and let th the nil by 10 below sic me Imagine m my extravagant nt Jt joy when I again made out the thc painted Rising Sun in orange colors along te Co side of or the e. e ant and the thc big black numerals 16 following In it it My r escaped prize of or yesterday ay was again as-aln within m my clutches It would never escape again j The barren walls of or m rny my sleeping I f quarters again rose before my ny c o f es n Manfully I choked down all unwonted feelings of optimism as I thought of yesterdays yesterday's mishaps but still I felt I e cr every confidence in the outcome of ot today's encounter This was too to ocd I tog tn h. h to r c c C Compelling in myself to patience I J fol followed followed fot- fot I lowed m my enem enemy along as aR he made maJc his wn way vay still further to the south He lie had some special mission lon to perform of or this I J was sure I 1 wanted wante to know just what this mission was At the J same time the farther back ho lie von ven- 1 the better would be my ch s chanc-'s for or dropping him within our territory He was now almost over o Comme Commecy My sole fear tear was that some careless move 0 of ot mine would disclose me to the 1 attention o of the tho observer As AA he left Common Commercy behind him and approached I 1 made up m my mind to dola dolay do- do la lay no lon longer or I suddenly left lett my position In tho sun and darted out to 1 the rear to Intercept his retreat It W was to be a straightforward battle In the th open Let tho the best man win ocher t Yank Yunk A Again aln m my luck was with me mo for I 1 reached a rn point directly h behind hl d him him and had turned towards him for tor m first shots before ro he was aware of or my my presence I had lead decided upon ulson my my tactics tac tac- tics Diving upon him from rom a diagonal ort 1 tl direction m my first bursts would doubtless doubtless doubt l- l less les cause him to put his machine Into a no I would anticipate this and und zoom up over o him trim and catch him dead under m my next diving dl attack Au Aa J I neared th the tall from three three- quarters direction I saw the observer I suddenly straighten himself up and l around at ot rue me He had been down In inthe the tho bottom of his office probably taking photo photographs of or the tho scenery be be- be low The pilot had seen m my machine In his mirror and had Just given hen the tile warning warning wanInG warn warn- ing to the rear gunner g As he ho faced aced I Ime me me I began firing Two unexpected things happened Immediately Im m- mediately Instead of or falling Into a as 15 n arty intelligent German n would certainly have ha done this pilot zoomed up and let me go under him In An n fact I had hall about ahou t the thousandth thousand th par part l of ot a second In which to decide to go rather than ram th the monster Thus vy O Oclever clever cleYer plans were all nIl upset by th the refusal ic- ic J c fu tURal al of ot m my antagonist to do t the 1 maneuver that I 1 had assigned to lo liter lura Our positions were re reversed r ed Instead of or m my being on top arid and firing Iring at alma ho was on top and b by some extraordinary nary miracle ho was wag firing at me mc I circled awa away and nd looked l back a Ic to unravel this mystery I J quickly solved dewed t It Toni roll out of or the tho bell belly of or the Humpier Humpler a wicked looking machine machine- gun was pumping tracer bullets at t me meas meas mens as ns fast a as an any gun ever l fired Ired H Tt was wasa 5 a ne new and hitherto unheard unheard-of of or defense this defense this shooting through tho iho floor No wonder he had od in instead instead In- In stead tead of ot trying to escape J To be continued tomorrow c |