Show letters from our soldiers VA s V sctt JAS JAB MONAGHAN NOW AN AVIATOR WRITES OF HIS WORK aviation sect on signal corps madison harracka barracks new york may ath editor vernal lapress As I 1 have been transferred into aviation am writing to ask aak you to be soud loud enough to send the vernal lx alx press ti mgt james mon monaghan aghan brov co madlynn madi in barracks pew lew york I 1 tetta was waa glad to get away frow from camp ru Iu naton why during in 9 the eight months there it never rained once during drill periods I 1 flying to be very interest ine aud of 0 course it la is the highest brazwe bradu h cf the service but the in fanto after all in this bayonet war la Is the most popular branch an aviation school la is a hard graft we work ral day and part of the that familiar sound bound in the infantry benoot a nickle atabay road read em and bep is never heard beard here As aa I 1 dont know anything about this branch I 1 can tell v a little about it without letting out any military secreta I 1 am in a photographic unit alter I 1 get my training it will be my duty to photograph the enemy trenches from the air cheso photo grappi are then made into maps and are used tor for directing artillery tire fire and to givis gire information as to just what the infantry nf antry will find and it if they take the position by going over the top these pictures have to be taken every clear day so that the maps will be up to date and show allow all tho the machine gun em placements saps and new dug outs of course the ademy does everything that they can to prevent present having these things seen from abaye besides this they have antiaircraft guns to keep the observing planes as high in the air as possible A picture is no rood good it if taken higher than 1600 feet from the ground this Is good antiaircraft anti aircraft gun range of course an antiaircraft anti aircraft gun that scots this cannot bo like a blot gun and tiey they never et r uld hit a plane with one bullet as the airplane moves fr in to ral ralla lv pet pei hour d pending depending on oil the wind Tie therefore 11 rp lial aircraft guns have to use shrapnel which explodes in the air the exact range up to the aero I 1 lane has to be guessed so the gun ner does what he bo calls bracketing that la Is to say baa it if his first shot explodes too 1 if the next time he far en cn ug IK beyond so flo that the ilia shell will explode above the plane then he splits the difference dl norence in the two ranges and generally gets his roan men it if he Is still too high or low he hd brackets brac keto again and sooner or latr er to is bound to hit the target of 0 course this is figured very rapidly and can be done with guns in less I 1 tivie than it taked to ull tell about it in tle tie mean time the airman is try ing 0 o r take his picture and get back to headquarters lead acad quarters with the ilia ln fornia don ae te liaa has prescribed rules to to fol lew juit as aa the gum auni er has it if th ill first jhc bilick bursts arloe him ho he krow 1 hat 1 at lit tl L IK aft t will nill probably be lt bt i all and I 1 I 1 v e din clin b with every oiin oan a of hla his engine if the first shot bursts below lie he knows that the next shot will probably be above and he pushes forward hla his little lever and lives dives as aa h as a ton toil of metal will fall lor for bo no feet and then flattens out and glides off snapping his pie pic ture it if he finds himself in a good po felton ton As the gunner knows that hut tho the avitt rrt know just what nhat the sunner gunner knows and what lie he will probably do and as the aviator knows that thai the gunner knows just juat what the aviator knows and what lie ho will probably do therefore they both know what they both know and what they will both probably do and try to do the opposite to tool each other this tho the can adland here tell us Is the file only thing that makes it at all interesting I 1 am enclosing a little doul liboy ditty that I 1 think will probably bo be pretty well ell understood by the ilia boys with the colors yours truly J MONA OltAN |