DODGING “ARCHIE."

Hokitika Guardian, 17 November 1917, Page 4

DODGING “ARCHIE."

THR AIR PI LOT’S TRICKS

(By a War Pilot.)

/A pilot flying over the lines uses all sorts of tricks to deceive the watchers beloiv.

Under normal circumstances they 7 can tell his height to a few feet, and will show 7 , too, that they 7 know 7 itby 7 the way they send up the bursts ol ‘ Archie ” (anti-aircraft gun). Indeed, no matter whether y 7 ou cross the lines one day at B.oooft and another at io,ocoft and another at 14,000 ft., so sure as you get within range there are the six slowly widening rings of smoke at y 7 our level —a few 7 feet ahead or behind or all around you. Hun “ Archies ” are generally 7 grouped in sixes; and though their chief object is barrage and annoyance, men have been brought down by “ sigliters ” and by direct hits at 15,000 ft from one of those fatal sixes.

The “ Archie gunner judges height by measuring the apparent size of the machine’s wings as it flies above. He know’s every machine at a glance at 10,000 yards distance and farther. He gets plenty of practice. He knows the measurements of every machine and its speed and can allow 7 for it. The Hun “ Archie ” gunner has reason to be peculiarly 7 efficient —he gets so much practice.

To know 7 how 7 to upset all the fine calculations is the whole art of eluding “ Archie.”

One w r ay is to alter the apparent size of your wings or to change your speed or vary your height, and dodge hither and thither, 110 matter how many other things y 7 ou may have to do at the same time. You can alter y 7 our apparent size by 7 flying “ one wing down ” and so giving a shorter view of your machine. You can “switch back ”up and down a couple of hundred feet at a time and so vary 7 y 7 our speed too. You can paint in advance a ; dark baud beneath the tips ot your j w'ings—and hope for the best. Or you can suddenly “ stall” your machine—that is, hold it up and throttle the engine down for a few moments, opening out again before y 7 pu start to fall. Then you can side-slip a little—not too much, or , you will be losing valuable height. 1

A pilot one day 7 w 7 ho underwent the horrible experience of being hemmed in by‘“Archie” almost exhausted every trick before he got away. He w 7 as flying along when suddenly the fatal bursts appeared just ahead. This was only 7 normal. He side-slipped a little and “carried on.” But immediately 7 there wore the bursts just ahead again and a little closer. He had hardly turned off again when there they were, a fresh lot, just behind his tail, sending him bumping and diving all over the place. They hsid got his range to a hair.

He “ stalled ” and turned off at right angles to the left—and there were the bursts all round him again and the sharp sting oi a w 7 ouud in his cheek.

Things wore getting bad. He doubled round quickly and made a sudden dive—and there wore the bursts all around him once more. He “stalled,” put one wing down, and side-slipped down 300 feet. Scarcely had he “flattened out” again when one more group burst round him All the time blood was pouring dow 7 n his face. As a last resort he “played hit.” He put the other wing right dow 7 n aucl sideslipped sheer 800 ft. This he turned into a “spinning nose dive” and came out 3000 ft low 7 er. Then he flattened out and dived for our lines. For those few 7 moments “Archie” was fooled. Directly afteiw r ards they 7 w 7 ere at him again. But he w r as out of range and got awav.

“ Archie ” is “ the very devil ” w r here the gunners get plenty 7 of practice !