July 17, 1917.
The work has been going very well since last I wrote you, which was
only two or three days ago. I told you about at last leaving the
blessed roller; I never was so relieved in my life. The first evening
in the _decollé_ class, I was requisitioned to turn tails and the
morning after there was too much wind to work. The _decollé_ is the one
where you go up two or three metres and settle down by cutting speed.
The first time I had three sorties in the wind, bounced around a lot,
but did no damage. The next time was first thing in the morning. Two
metres up on the first, four or five on the fifth--strictly against
orders. I even had to _piqué_--point the machine toward the ground--a
little, which is not at all _comme il faut_ in the _decollé_. But these
Frenchmen are funny chaps--sometimes they will get terribly angry and
punish one for disobeying, and again they will be tickled to death
with it. If I had smashed while doing more than I was told to, there
would have been a lot of trouble; as it was, no objection--and the
monitor personally conducted me to the _piqué_ class with a very nice
recommendation.
Now there are two _piqué_ classes: one with a _piste_ about a
quarter of a mile long, in which one is supposed to do little more
than _decollé_, get up about five metres and _piqué un tout petit
peu_--hardly at all. After comes the advanced _piqué_ with a much
longer _piste_ on which one can get up 100 metres (300 feet). On my
first sortie in the _piqué_, I was told to roll on the ground all the
way, so continuing my policy, did a low _decollé_. Next I was supposed
to do a two metre _decollé_, so went up ten and _piquéd_. Had ten
sorties in that class one morning, getting as high as I could--about
twenty metres--and went to the advanced _piqué_ that night--last night.
Four sorties there last night with a machine with a poor motor, so
didn’t get up over a hundred feet.
And this morning I did my first real aviating. There was a bit of wind
blowing, so the monitor, Mr. Moses, only let a Lieutenant and me go
up, as we had gone better than the others last night. First it was a
bit rainy and always bumpy as the deuce--air puffs and pockets which
require the entire corrective force of the wing warp and rudder to
overcome. My last sortie was decidedly active. The wind had developed
into a bit of a breeze which is to a Blériot like a rough sea to a row
boat. Two or three times I got a puff that tipped the machine ’way
over--put the controls over as far as I could and waited. It seemed a
minute before she straightened. The trouble was that the machine was
climbing and therefore not going very fast. If I had _piquéd_, it would
have corrected quicker. I had no trouble at all in making the landing.
Hopping out of the machine, I saw the head monitor rushing over to
Mr. Moses on the double, shouting volubly in French and berating him
severely. I gathered that he had been watching my manoeuvres, expecting
something to fall every instant, and that he strenuously objected to
Moses’ letting me go up. Work stopped there for the morning, and it was
very fully explained to me what the trouble was. If I have some sorties
there tonight, I go to _Tour de Piste_ (Flying Field) in the morning. I
may be on Nieuport in two weeks.
I am now beginning to see the advantages of the Blériot training. There
is a great deal of preliminary work on or near the ground. In all
other aviation training, such as at Newport News, 90 per cent of the
work is in making landings--in piquéing down, redressing at the proper
moment and making gradual connections with the earth. I haven’t made a
really bad landing yet and the reason is that I have been in a machine
so much on and near the ground, that I have sort of developed a sense
or feel of it, and almost automatically redress correctly, and settle
easily. Also I can tell pretty closely what is flying speed because of
the work on the rollers. It’s the same way with all the other students
only I know it now from my own experience.
And this morning I began to realize that my hundred minutes at Newport
News was invaluable. I not only found out some of the tricks of a
master hand (Carlstrom) but also developed a bit of confidence in the
air, and air sense, without which I could have got into trouble this
morning. My bumpy ride this morning is absolutely invaluable. I’ll
probably never have so much trouble in the air again, because a fast
machine or even a Blériot with a good motor, would hardly have noticed
these puffs. It was a bit risky, I guess, or the head monitor would not
have been worried, but now that it’s over, I know a lot more.