FLYING WITH ITS DEAD

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 254, 15 July 1918, Page 5

FLYING WITH ITS DEAD

AEROPLANE'S LONG CIRCLE TO BARTH. . Details of an amazing flight of a British airplauo for two hours with itg two occupants dead are supplied by a wellknown flying officer „who recently returned to, London from Arras. ( "The_ iucidont referred to," he 68-id,, "is quito authentic, and. was a- common' topic of conversation a fos- days ago. Of course, there is absolutely no reason why a machino should not, under average conditions, fly itself so long as its petrol holds out. This is not an exceptional incident of tho kind, and certainly thero have been cases whore German machines havo been captured with their pilots dead. So far as I know, the facts aro that this Bristol fighter, which, of course, is a two-soater with, guns fore and aft, took off ) about half-past ono pan. Tho wind conditions were almost negligible, making it very good flying weather. Thoro was a great number of miscellaneous oraft widoly scattered over No Man's Land. Tho British airmen, at an estimated altitude of. 3600 ft., when they would bo running at 80 miles ortkereabouts, encountered a German Albatross, They at onco attacked. A lot of manoeuvring followed, and three other machines, two of them Gorman, oaine into aotion. Tho Bristol machino hung on to its quarry and eventually got it well under the nose, tho German crashing . down.

"Immediately afterwards our machine mado a swoep south. It had lost height in manoeuvring, and was rooking badly, as if out of control, but it kept 6toadily on until it was lost to view. At a little beforo i o'clock the machino, whioh was, of course, easily identified, foil crashing to earth nearly 20 miles to tho west of Arras. On examination both, its oocupants were found to bo dead, obviously from bullet wounds, which had struck them from tho back and which must at onco havo proved fatal. Their injuries on coming down certainly did not cause their death. The petrol tank of their machine was found to bo empty. There is no doubt the two men wore 6hot immediately tho German Albatross fell.. The Bristol machine, which is the best and most perfectly controlled fighting machino known, of its cwn volition, swept on a fairly even keel to a distance of iwssibly ten miles below the point where tho battlo took place. Then for somo reason which never will be known, tho controls were shifted and a circle was made. In view of the fact that tho total distance covored must havo been much under 100 miles, it appears certain the machine lost speed and height gradually, possibly duo to somo minor, but not vital, injury to tho engine. For upwards of two hours the two dead men wore in tho air lieforo tho final crash to earth."