Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 February 1918 — AIR FEATS OF THE LAFAYETTE MEN [ARTICLE]

AIR FEATS OF THE LAFAYETTE MEN

Walcott, Since Shot Down Over German Lines, Tells of Comrades Daring. MAKES DIVE OF 10,000 FEET Aviator Reaches Ground Safely Although All the Wires on His Machine 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 received from his son, E. S. Walcott, whose airplane fell “somfewhere behind the German lines” along the western front-. The allusions to tlfe work of the American aviators contained in these letters are all the more interesting 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 recommendation of General Pershing. Doctor Walcott has received a dispatch 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 jto ascertain, If possible, from Germany whether young Walcott was seriously Injured or not. In a tetter dated November 13, In response to an inquiry about Campbell, an aviator from Chicago, who was reported- lost, young Walcott wrote as ■follows: “Campbell was in the Lafayette Escadrille, and they are a member of the same group as Squadron 84, so I have masked 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 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 relative since. “Another chap named Bulkely was brought down in similar circumstances about the Ist of September. Ten days ago word was received from the American embassy that he had communicated with them, a prisoner in Geriinany.

“There are many similar cases where men brought down with crippled machines, or wounded, escaped destruction by a miracle. The only sure thing is when a machine goes down in iflames or is seen to lose a wing or two. “For instance, there are two officers lin the group who are in the best of health and daily working. Several months ago they were on patrol tojgether and collided in the air. One (machine cut the tail rigging completel]y off the other plane, and then they separated, one plane without a tail land the other machine with various (parts of a tail mixed among the cables iand struts of one side of his machine. (They both landed in France, one on. his (wheels, followed by a 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 iboth his 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 igot a decoration for 1U Dives Vertically 10,060 Feet. “Another chap, in an attack on captive balloons, dived for something like |IO,OOO feet vertically and with full moItor 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 maichlne! When he got home all the wires had several Inches sag in them; jthe metal connections of the cables tnto the struts and wood of the wings ‘had bit into the wood enough to give the sag. “Merhinas are built to stand 1m-

mense pressure on the under side of their wings. In some acrobatic maneuvers I was trying 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 supposed 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’ve seen yet. Of course, it’s heavy, and that’s why they put 150-230 horse power in them. The other school, that of a light machine with a light motor, depending for its success on lack of weight rather than excess of power, may supplant the heavier machine in time; I can’t tell. “Yesterday there was a review here in honor of Guynqmer, 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 treasury department, besides the two aviation emblems of France. He was called to receive his decoration for. having in the course of one day held seven combats, descended (six) one German plane 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.) “Aviators are not very military. The chief of one of the escadrllles w as commissioned to command 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 in more or less formation, most of them with hands in their pockets, for it was chilly, and presenting a mixture of uniforms unparalleled in its heterogeneity. Every branch of the service represented endless personal ideas in dress. Spent Their Holiday in the Air. “Because of the occasion, repose had been granted to the entire group for the afternoon, another group taking over our patrols. So that after the review every one had the afternoon to

waste —a sunny dtiy, which 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 as to the spirit in the French aviation service after three years of war." In another lettfer, written December 1, young Walcott says: “I tried to give you some idea of the strength of a Spad in a letter a while ago. At home people speak of a factor of safety, meaning the number of times stronger the machine is than is necessary for plain flying. The Spad is made so that a man can’t ‘bust’ it, no matter what he does 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,ooo 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, slipping out again to look around. If it stays below the enemy antiaircraft guns pepper it whenever neqr 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; dart out of the cloud and see him, maybe 500 yards away, going at right angles. Then back 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.’ In a letter from the front, dated November 30, the following passages occur: Yesterday was Thanksgiving day, and, praises be! the Lafayette bunch Invited me and my partner to pinner, or rather to the feast. They have the most remarkable chef. Soup and fish' prepared the way for a most remarkably big bird called the turkey, barricaded by chestnuts. And then a plum pudding—a regular American one—and as good as I ever tasted. I sat at the table with Captain Thenault, Lieutenants Thaw and- Lufbery, and some Frenchmen. “An early patrol this morning, despite low clouds. Lots of fun it was, ducking in and out of the clouds, keeping from hitting other -rrfachines in the clouds and from losing the patrol. Saw a few Boches, but all they had to do was to slip up out of sight when the patrol approached. Every now and then their antiaircraft guns would blaze away a bit, but there was lots of room for them to miss end for us to leave the place they were shooting at.”