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LOOPING THE LOOP.

DARING FEAT ABOVE BATTLE LINE. How it fools to loop tbe loop in «" aeroplane, 10,000 foot above tho firing lino, while on aorifil patrol duty, is told in a letter received in New York. The writer says:— "X sweetly replied that he. was waiting for Y and was to do a patrol. So Z "calmed down. Wo got everything ready, and as it was a patrol naturally took' a machine gun and ammunition. As six drums are laid down as the requisite amount. I had three m my seat and X hnd three in his. Mine were in a haversack, hiu were in littlo boxes on the side of the machine. All this has significance later. "Wo ata,rted off at 5 p.m. on a rather cloudy afternoon, and irom tne first it was exciting. Instead of re vol v. ing full out, as the engine should have done, three cylinders started missing and the revolutions dropped a lull quaitor. We came rushing over the aerodrome—just managed to clear tho mam road. . , • _ "I saw two white-faced women lying flat on their backs in tho road and two kids running down it for all they were worth as the pilot just succeeded in 'Morning her' over the telegraph wires, which had been specially sot tar bach from the road. Zooming consists 111 letting the machine fly'level without trying to lift her at all, so that she gets apa good sharp pace, about /o ill. p h., and then wrench back on the joy stick, and up she goes with a bound,' only after losing your speed on this steep upward bound you Have to let her'.mume normal climbing angle or she'll stall and do a tail slide. "I, of course, had fearful palners of the heart, and shouted back that we might land at an aerodrome near by to effect repairs. 'Probably only sooted plugs.' The' pilot said sho was a, wee bit better now and would wait and see if she'd clear herself and nick up the other three cylinders. This she did eventually, and we climbed up at a real good pace, doing our patrol all along the trenches and up and down for about twenty kilometres. "We saw lots of machines and swooped at a good many, only to find in. each case that they were British or French. Not a Hun came in sight; alwavs tho way when you are out tor blood, but when you are peacefully photographing they come on you in swarms as a rule. At about 7500 we ran into a bank of clouds and ploughed through them for a long time._ "My word, it was cold! When we emerged above them, lo and behold snow on the planes and on the rear edges of tho struts and wires. Quite reminded me of Switzerland. , "Then we saw a very pretty and not too common sight. The first time 1 have seen it. We were behind the cloud bank and the sun at about 9000 feet, and on the cloud bank appeared our shadow in the middle.of a brilliant circular rainbow. The rainbow had a diameter of; I suppose, twenty-five vards and our shadow almost completely filled up the centre. This kept pace with us as we rushed along. " Then it was the pilot, who had several times been zooming tho machine to put tho wind up one,„ snid, 'Would you like to loop?' T replied 'Yes.! Half.a minute while I 1 fix the .machine gun.' So I jammed one leg over the'gun and jammed my elbow hard on to it and gripped one of the wires in front of me. I had previously fastened up my belt as tight as I could get it. I did the haversack ammunition up, which was hanging from the front edge of my seat, and then "gripped a stud with my other hand. Then said ,' Right!' ; . ~; . . LOOPING THE LOOP.. "Immediately the nose went down and the engine revolutions went up an extra 300 a minute until wo .touched 95 All this time I had fearful wind up and thought 10,000 feet a long way to fall, and Huston and Proctor haven't been making aeroplanes for Ion". They turned out this machine, and "in times of peace area well-known firm in Lincoln for' large agricultural implements. ~',', xi "Then at 9-j m.p.h. back came the joy stick and, twoo-o-oop, up we went, me leaning hard back against the back of my seat Wo hovered for a moment and I thought: 'Uhg! We'll have an awful tail slide! We were in this position then. f, ''>", " But we had a. reserve of elevator. Ho < T ave a wrench and over she came clean on her back. My body left the seat and I was suspended by arms hanging head downward 10,000 feet above good old Mother Earth. Luckily 1 bad the machine gun nice and tight and it didn't move. At this point I was curiously calm and looked about for the ground, which I discovered at the back of my head and the horizon swoopin" all over the place. "Then gently we came over again and into the more diving position, I leaning verv hard on my belt, and then with a rush out on the ordinary normal course. We had, looped the loop,, myself for the first time. All this took nbout twenty seconds, but seemed like fifteen minutes. SPIRALS ON WAY DOW*. "During the loop the ammunition hanging in the haversack on the front. ed"-e of my seat dropped on to my inverted body -with a good thud, and one of the drums in the other seat dropped outward and downward and hurtled to the earth. Bv the time it reached tho ground, 10.000 feet below, it must have been travelling about m.p.h. Anyhow, Tf it hit nnvone on tho head they will have received a, slight conk thereon, to say the least of it. " After' the loop we stayed up another fifteen minutes to complete our patrol, and then came home, doing two very vertical and tight spirals, one'left and one right, on the way down. These, however, are now not forbidden and were executed right over tho aerodrome. "We effected a beautiful landing, and [ put foot on terra, firma after the most exciting flight. I have had as yet. fooling I was somebody, though why T cannot imagine j as I knew X. had already loooecl in the some machine and lots of other people have done so, always successfully, and after all I was a lump of meat. X. is the one who deserves to feel he is quelpu'un."

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LT19160128.2.73

Bibliographic details

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17077, 28 January 1916, Page 11

Word Count
1,106

LOOPING THE LOOP. Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17077, 28 January 1916, Page 11

LOOPING THE LOOP. Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17077, 28 January 1916, Page 11

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