THE AIRMEN AND THE FOG

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 72, 18 December 1917, Page 5

THE AIRMEN AND THE FOG

HOW MEN LOSE THEIR WAV IN THE AIR A WAR-TIME INCIDENT ! Not long ago a British pilot ivas sent to fly a machine to a certain aero-, drome in the south of England. It was one of the latest British acroplhncs, n type of machine well in advanco of anything possessed Ly the Germans, and the major portion of the journey was covered in a remarkably short 'space of time. As luck would have it, however, a dense hank of fog was oucountered within a few .T.iles of the airman's destination. It was one of those fogs which, blowing in from tlie North' Sea, aro caught and concentrated in the narrow jaws of the Channel, and spread out over tho surrounding country, heavy, thick, and lowlying. At a height of 400 feet above tho ground tho pilot swept through a clear air with a glorious midday sun shining overhead. A hundred foot beneath him was the fog-bank, impassive and impenetrable, lying like a drift of driven snow, with hardly a roll marking its surface. He was flying low tha'. ho might the better pick up some landmark to guido him enhia journey. But the fog hid everything. There seemed nothipg for it but to descend and make his way through the fog itself. He know that tho nerodromo whither ho was bound could not bo very far off. To accomplish his mission it was necessary for him to discover his proper bearings. Very Noarly. Reducing the number of his revolutions to a minimum, ho cautiously picked his way through the clammy mist. But tho machine no longer flew so easily His compass needle began to veer ouriously. The condensed moisture on the facn of one of his_ instruments slowly swilled to one side, and dribbled over the top of tho containing rim. With a groan of disgust he pulled back his control lever, and shot up nut of the mist into the open air. 'Ho had been slowly turning over —no uncommon occurrence when a pilot is flying through a mist. Again ho fent the nose of his machine into tho fog; this time circling round in long, flat spirals. Slowly he descended, straining Hs eyes downwards to catch the first g'impse of objects on the earth. But nothing was visible except tho dark misty grey of tho fog. Suddenly he realised that his aneroid reading was at zero. With n great fear in his heart ho jerked his machine into the open air. He must have been within a few feet of diving into tho sea. , _ • 'l\vo courses were open to him —either to fly in tho direction of England and descend beyond tho limits of the mist, or to proceed in the direction of France, find his bearings and return to make another attempt at finding his destination. Tho first course was tho safer. But it mean*, an open confession of failure, of inability to carry out his orders. He knew, moreover, that tho machine was needed to complete the complement of a squadron about to proceed to France. Without a moments hesitation Tie headed across channel. Germans. Only a few minutes did he keep this course. His inaohine was sjicedy, and a Channel crossing was but a slep in its radius of night. As ho descended he noticed that,the fog was thinner. A sauuy beach became visible; then swathes of barbed wiro -and lines of trenches; and a little to his left a Harbour, surrounded by rows of battered buildings. A machine-gun sent ,i spray of bullets through his righthand plane. But ere the guns spoko ho had started to climb out, of range, for he recognised tho ground beneath him; it was Belgian territory, in occupation by the Germans, and only a. tew weeks ago he had assisted in bombing those buildings by the harbour and tho ships in the harbour itself. Once again the fog hid the earth from view, flo had got his bearings, but , he did not fly homeward. That machine gun crew had first to be taught a lesson. After Hying inland for a few miles, gaining elevation all tho time, he swung round again ( shut off his engine, and dived silently in the direction of tho gun. The earth appeared beneath him, clearer and clearer. Again he saw the sandy beach, the barbed wire entanglements and the trenches, the battered buildings huddling around the harbour. llight ahead of him a group of German soldieis were standing by their machinegun. ■ Their attitude waa that cf men who listened. As silently as a bat sweeping out of the darkness, he darted down on them. His machine-gun rattled the stillness. When it ceased tho gun was still there, but the crew were stretched around it, silent and still. Turning on his engine, ho mounted above the fog, and headed homeward. It was now a race against time, for a German bullet from the first encounter had emptied one of his petrol tanks, and the remaining supply was running low. Willy-nilly, within a very few minutes he would have to descend. Would he reach land in time, or would it bo the sea? His heart went out to the gallant machino which was carrying him along so steadily. Ho devoted 0 his whole attention to the controls, determined to bring the 'piano home if human skill could do so.

Safe Home. Presently liis engine choked, ran on smoothly again; choked, and stopped running. He was at the end of his tether. Hβ must descend. Slowly he volplaned downwards, nursing his elevation, and applying every trick of his cxperienco to gain a few more yards of headway. Ho know that it would be a very closo thing, indeed; but the knowledge did not shako his nerve, or interfere with his superb handling of the machine. At length, to his great relief, tho earth rose silently out of the mist. An aerodrome appeared just in front of him, not the ono to which he had been ordered, but a sister aerodrome, baroly a' milo away from his destination. Skilfully rounding a tall factory chimney, which suddenly loomed out of the mist, he glided down gently and came to rest among the hangars. A group of pilots and mechanics crowded round him as ho climbed from his scat, congratulating him on his landing. Not only had he come to onrth safely in a fog, an exceptionally difficult thing to do, but, owing to the flatness of his descent, in order to avoid colliding with the hangars, he lind lieeu compelled to manoeuvre his tail plane until tho forward speed had boen reduced almost to zero while the machine wae still a foot or two in the pir; 60 that wlpn the wheels of tho undercarriage hud finally touched earth, tho aeroplane would not trnvel forwnrd more than a few yards. They led him off to their mess to fppd and refresh him, and to j'nin details of his flight.