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Aviation History
1969
1969 - 0027.PDF
FLIGHT International, 2 January 1969 turn back again and drive southwards. Our squadron was selected to act as bait! We flew over several enemy aerodromes in two formations of four, one above the other. Having attracted over 20 Huns, we looked for the other squadrons; they were nowhere to be seen. We and they had synchronised our watches, but Brigade had overlooked a strong wind which did not allow them to make it in time. So we had a really good dog-fight all on our own and put down three Huns in flames, three crashed and three out of control, all for the loss of no machines and one observer wounded. But the story might well have had a very different ending. Pusher to tractor At one time we were told we would have Bristol Fighters to replace the F.E.2ds. We were not at all pleased, as the pusher's rear-mounted engine gave the Hun something to fire into and was a protection for the pilot and observer. The Bristol, being a tractor machine, made the observer feel he was rather easy meat. A "Brisfit" was flown over for our inspection and two of our pilots proficient in tractor flying took it up. At 8,000ft they looped twice and, to our horror, the wings folded back. We ascertained later that, to save weight, the ash interplane struts were hollowed out and did not stand up to the stresses. However, the machines we had later were very good. After a period of six months' flying one was normally trans ferred to Home Establishment. Some squadrons had pilots who, before leaving for England, would make a point of doing something more stupid than the previous departing pilot. One would fly right through a hangar, or spin up his wheels on a hangar roof. A single-seater pilot tried to do a loop straight from ground level; he just didn't make it. Two-seat crews chased each other in and out of the clouds until they collided. Fortunately the people in our squadron had more sense, and once my orders came through you couldn't have got ime off the ground. In fact, I did not fly again until last year. Looking back over more than 50 years one marvels at the size of the military aircraft of today, with ground control, electronics and many safety devices undreamed of in our day. Yet those were indeed happy times, and I would not have wished to miss them. 15 The aerodrome of No 20 Sqn, RFC, at St Marie Capelle, 1916. The hangars were in the centre of a small field, at each end of which were Nissen huts; the building faintly seen near the upper right-hand corner of the airfield boundaries is the bomb store Reconnaissance photograph of a typical Western Front scene: Petit Bois in May 1917. In the foreground are the British trenches; the German lines are just in front of the wood—a forest of blasted, blackened stumps . ~~'---'i^fl".-; ' 2 ' ; ,v "'^f'liSBjlfi'
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