LOOPING THE LOOP.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 37, 14 February 1916, Page 3

LOOPING THE LOOP.

DARING FEIAT ABOVE BATTLE LINE. How it feels to loop the loop in an aeroplane, 10,000 ft. above the firingline, while on aerial 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. We got everything ready, and. as it was a patrol, natural. Iy, took a machine gun and ammunition. As six drums 'are laid down as the requisite amount, I had three in my seat and X had three in his. Mine were in a haversack; his were in little boxes at the side of the machine. All this has significance later. "We started off at 5 p.m. on a rather cloudy afternoon, and from the first it was exciting. Instead of revolving full out, as the engine should have done, three cylinders started missing, and the revolutions dropped a full quarter. We came rushing over the aerodrome—just managed to clear the main road.

"I saw two white-faced women ly-

I ing flat on their backs in the road ! and two kids running- down it for all they were worth as the pilot just succeeded in 'zooming' her over the telegraph wires, which had been specially set far back from the road. 'Zooming' consists in letting the machine fly level without trying to lift her at all, so that she gets up a good sharp, pace, about 75 miles per hour, and' then wrench back on the joy stick, ; and up she goes with a bound, only, after losing your speed on this step upward bound, you have to let her resume normal climbing angle or she'll stall and clc a tail slide.

'% of course, had fearful palpers of the heart, and shouted back that we might land at 'an aerodrome near by to effect repairs. 'Probably only soot- ' ed plugs.' The pilot said she was a wee bit better now, and would wait and see if she would clear herself and pick up the ether three cylinders. This she did eventually, and we climbed u p at a real good pace, doing our patrol all along the trenches and up and down for about 20 kilometres. "We saw lets 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; always the way when you are out for blood; but when you are peacefully photographing they come on you in swarms, as a rule. At about 7500ft] 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, 10, ahd behold, snow on the planes and on the rear edges of the struts and wires. Quite reminded me of. Switzerland. "Then we saw a very pretty, and not too common, sight. The first time I have seen it. We were behind the cloud bank and the sun, at about 900 ft., 'and on the cloud bank appeared our shadow in the middle of a brilliant rainbow. The rainbow had !

a diameter of, I suppose, 25 yards, and our shadow almost completely filled up the centre. Thi s kept pace with us as we rushed along. "Then it was that the pilot, who had several times been zooming the machine to put the wind up one, said, 'Would you like to loop?' I replied 'Yes- Half a minute Avhile I 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 wire s 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 we touched 95. All this time I had a fearful wind up, and thought 10,000 ft. a long

way to fall, and Ruston and Proctor haven't been making aeroplanes for long. They turned out this machine, and in times of peace are a wellknown firm in Lincoln for large agricultural implements. "Then at 95 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. We hovered for a moment, and I thought: 'Ugh! We'll have an awful tail-slide!' We were in this position then. •. j

"But we had a reserve of elevator. ' He gave a wrench and over she came clean on her back. My body left the seat, and I was suspended by my arms, hanging head downward 10,000 ft. above good old Mother Earth. .Luckily 'I had 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 swooping all over the place. "Then gently we came over again and into the more diving position, I ■leaning very 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 in about 20 seconds, but it seemed like 15 minutes. SPIRALS ON WAY DOWN.

"During the loop the ammunition hanging in the haversack on the front edge 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 anc hurtled to the earth. By the time it reached the ground, 10,000 ft below, it must have been travelling about 350 m.p.h. Anyhow, if it hit anyone on the head, they will have received a s'ight conk thereon, to say the least of it.

"After the loop, we stayed up another 15 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, arq ."-now t not forbidden, and were executed right over the aerodrome.

"We effected a beautiful landing, and I put foot on terra firma after the most exciting flight I have had as yet, feeling I was somebody, though why I cannot imagine, as I knew X had already looped in the same machine, and lots of other people have done so, always successfully, and after all 1 was a lump of meat. X is the one who deserves to feel he is quelqu'un."