AIRMAN UNDER FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1633, 27 December 1912, Page 7

AIRMAN UNDER FIRE.

DESPERATE ADVENTURE. M. Effimoff,. the Russian airman, who has made flights in England and 'Franco' last month, gave the Sofia-correspondent of tho"Neue.Freie Presse" an account of a thrilling, flight he made from Musta•plia Pusha,' on the Bulgarian frontier, over Adrianophv distributing pamphlets calling on the Turkish population to surrender, as the. town was about to be bombarded. M. Effimoff says:—. "I took forty minutes to: fly twentyf&ur miles to Adriiiftople, as my machino was very old—a regular veteran, which could scarcely leave tho ground. I dropped my pamphlets into tho city from a height of over 1300 yards. 'At Fort Karagach I saw numbers of infantrymen shooting upwards at me. I did not'hear the report of their rifles, but I noticed that four bullets hit my, aeroplane. I did not loso my presence of mind, but flew On.

"But when (he guns of the forts began to lire shrapnel at me, and the aeroplane was hit several times by splinters of tho shells, things became critical. Every minute I thought I should be brought down, and I drew my revolver,. meaning to shoot myself if I foil, to escape falling into tlio hands of the Turk?. Luckily, only the planes were hit,' and not tho inotor, and I managed to keep in the air and land twenty minutes later at Mustapha Pasha." M. Effiinoff, who was engaged by tho Bulgarians as an instructor, has left their service, and is going to Scutari to fly for tho Montenegrins.