ON FIRE IN THE AIR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 8, 4 October 1918, Page 6

ON FIRE IN THE AIR

A TIME FOR NERVE AND JUDGMENT

AN EXCITING STORY

We wero flying over No-Man's Land, spotting for the artillery, and by constant changing direction and height, we had pretty well escaped the attention of the übiquitous Hun "Archie." The "shoot" was progressing satisfactorily, and our battery would soon be all ranged. . Our engine had been running very badly, and had tho shoot been less important, we should have returned home; but the target was a special Hun canal bridge, and the battel" was shooting excellently.

Our engine spluttered and vibrated badly. 1 pushed tho joy-stick forward, and we'lost a little height. Suddenly, a smell of burning wood reached my nostrils. 1 looked down, and round the framework near niv feet blackent-d and smouldering. The engine's- frequent back-firing must have made a torch of • tho exhaust. 1 switched off tho petrol supply, and opened out the throttle. One steep, sivift dive, and the fire was out. I hesitated. Should wo hurry off for home and safety, or continue the shoot, in which a very little more observing would bring complete success? 1 I turned to the observer.. Ho leaned over and inspected the damage. Tfc was not very bad, really. lie shouted into my ear: , '

"Let's carry on."

I climbed again, and v.-Cj continued tlia "shoot." Our battery was very soon firing as a battery—all guns—our last messages having completed the registration; and now shells were dropping all' about the target. Our part was done—pretty well done, too—aud in a few minutes' time the bridge was entirely destroyed. _ In our excitement the faulty engine had been forgotten, until, with ono last splutter, it gave out completely—it stopped.

The machine was really on fire, this time, and I was too late. Tile woodwork was, buripng, independently of petrol or exhaust, and to dive now would only fan the' flames about my feet. Yet we had to get to the ground, and very quickly too. I put the machine into a violent side-slip away from the.lines. The flames were thus fanned towards the opposito wins. The observer, leaning over my shoulder, squirted his fire extinguisher about my .feet. This enabled me to keep control of the rudder bar. We were down to 1500 feet, but the heat was now intense. The fire had reached the right wing. Would the fabric, continue to support us ? I pushed down the nose to hasten our.descent, Keeping the machine also in a side-slip. The rush of air sliglitly_ changed the direction of the flames. We were nearly down. There were very few shell-holes and hardly any hedges. Unless we were unlucky we should not meet any serious obstacle.

The ground rushed towards us. I took off the "bank" and "flattened out." One-landing wheel touched with a bump, broke away and continued its course independently. The machine pirouetted on the remaining wheel, a.ntl finally crashed on its noso and left wing. It was quite a wild affair, and we were unhurt." Springing to the ground we hurried away from the burning -wreck, only just in time, for u few seconds later the. petrol tank exploded. We looked at one another, and I am quite sure we-neither of us regretted having chanced it and finished our iob.