Jack Wright - Famous Flyers and Their Famous Flights

“We seem to be standing still,” shoutedBob.

“We’re going, all right. Your uncle isa great one for speed!” shouted back Hank.

The plane was banking now for a turn.They were going back. In a short whileBill had brought the plane down once moreinto the airport.

“Well, how did you like it?” he said, turning around in his pilot’s seat.

“Great!” said Bob.

But Hal was just a little sick. He saidnothing, and waited for the world to settledown again.

“You sure handle the ship like you usedto in the old days,” said Hank admiringlyto Bill.

“She’s a great ship,” said Bill, modestly.

Hank had an idea. “Say,” he said impulsively,“how would you like to fly herwhile I’m in Europe?”

“Gee, Hank, I really don’t think” – beganBill. He thought, the same old Hank, alwaysgenerous, always impulsive.

But Hank was going on with his plan.“Listen, I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.You fly my plane. And you can fly it upto the Canadian cabin if you want to. Thena perfectly swell vacation plan won’t be entirelythrown away. How about it? Thecabin is all ready to move into. They’vebeen fixing it up for me. What do you say?Are you game?”

“Game?” said Bill. “Gee, I’m crazy aboutthe idea. But I don’t see why you shoulddo this for me.”

Hank was embarrassed. “You’ve beenpretty decent to me in other times, rememberthat, Bill, old boy,” he said.

“Forget it,” said Bill.

Hank turned to the boys. “Bill here shotdown a Boche when the Boche was all butstepping on my tail. Those were the days,eh, Bill?”

“You bet,” said Bill. “We sure wereglad to get back alive. Remember old Lufbery?Raoul of the Lafayette Escadrille?There was a boy who could shoot themdown. Six out of seven in one day. Notbad flying, that. They used to get prettyclose to Raoul themselves. He’d come inwith his clothes ripped with bullets, butready to go right out again with the nextpatrol. Then one day he got his, and therewasn’t a man there that wouldn’t have giveneverything he had to save him, either.He’d gone up after a German that nobodyseemed able to down. Lufbery climbed upto get above him, and dove. But somethingwent wrong with his plane – God knowswhat, and those who were watching fromthe ground saw it burst into flame. Thenthey saw him stand on the edge of the cockpitand jump. It was horrible. But it wasthe only way for Lufbery to die – with hisplane. He wanted it that way.”

Then Hank said, “And Bill Thaw! Therewas another flying fool. Bill was great fun – alwayslaughing and joking, just as if hisnext flight might not be his last. Rememberwhat he did to those three German planeswhen they got fresh with him, Bill?” Heturned to the boys. “Thaw,” he explained,“was coming back from his regular patrol, when he suddenly came face to face withthree German planes. One of them maneuveredto his left, the second to his right, andthe third dove below him to fire up. Well,Bill had to think fast, and he did. He side-slippeduntil he was directly over the planebelow him, and fired down. One gone.Then he pulled himself out of a steep dive, and went after the second plane. A quickswoop, and a steep bank, a rapid burst offire, and the second German went down in aburning nose dive.

“From then on it was nip and tuck, andeach man for himself, dog eat dog. It wasa pretty even battle. The German was plucky, and ripped into Thaw for all he was worth.But one lucky turn, one accurate shot, andThaw had him. Down went his plane.Thaw, his plane in ribbons, his clothes bullet-riddled, limped home, stepped out of hisplane with a smile, and a joke on his lips.”

“Golly,” said Bob, “that must have beengreat fun. I wish I’d been there.”

“What would we have done with a babyin swaddling clothes?” laughed Bill.

“Aw,” said Bob, “you know I mean ifI was old enough.”

Hank was looking into the distance, withthe far-away look that meant another storywas coming on, and Bob stopped talking.

Finally Hank said, “Remember Luke andWehner? What a team! You never sawtwo men so different in your life. FrankLuke talked a lot – not always the mostmodest fellow in the world, either, and madea great to-do about everything he did. Buthe sure did plenty of damage to the Germans.Joe Wehner was quiet, modest, nevertalked very much, and never about himself.But still they were always together. Cameto be known as ‘The Luke and WehnerDuo.’

“They worked together, too. Went outon the same patrol and always stuck together.Luke’s specialty was shooting downDrachens. Those were the German observationballoons that they sent up behindtheir lines to observe what was going onin the American lines. Of course, the informationthey got caused plenty of harm, and anybody who shot down a Drachenwas doing a lot of good. But the thingswere expensive and useful, and the Germanssent them up with plenty of protection.There was always a swarm of planes flyingaround them and ready to light into anystranger that came near.

“Luke and Wehner used to take care ofthat. Wehner would fly above Luke, lookingout for any plane that might come toattack him. If one hove in sight, Wehnerwould go for him and engage him whileLuke flew on and shot down the balloon.Balloon after balloon went down. The Germanswere getting wary.

“One day when Luke and Wehner wereon their way to see what they could doabout three Drachens that were watchingthe American lines, they met up with a formationof Fokkers. Wehner dived into theuneven battle. Luke flew on, and shot downone, then the other bag. But the gallantWehner had fought his last fight. One ofthe Fokkers downed him. Luke, who sawwhat had happened to his pal, left the remainingballoon and furiously charged theFokkers. He fought like mad, zooming, diving, spurting fire into those German planes.Two of them hurtled to the ground. Theothers fled. Luke started for home. Onhis way he engaged and downed anotherenemy plane. It was a record that on anyother day he would have boasted about.But not that day. His pal had been killed, and Luke was for once silent and speechless.

“Of course, he didn’t give up balloonbreaking. He added up a goodly store. Butone day he got his, like so many of them.He’d sent three Drachens down in flames thatday, when his own plane was so badly crippled, and he was so badly wounded that hewas forced to land. He wouldn’t let themtake him, though, and he died fighting. Whena band of German soldiers approached him,he pulled out his gun and shot six of thembefore he fell dead.”

It was Bill’s turn. “Of course you boyshave heard of Eddie Rickenbacker. Therewas an ace for you. If it was speed andtrick flying that you wanted, Eddie was theman to give it to you. He had a bag oftricks that would get any pursuit plane offhis tail. But he didn’t always use them.He didn’t have 26 planes to his credit fornothing. Eddie was a great ace and a greatscout.”

Hank interrupted. “Here we go gassingagain like two old fogies. I feel like myown grandfather sitting on the front porchand discussing the battle of Bull Run. Weare getting old, aren’t we, Bill? Theseyoungsters ought to be glad that they didn’thave to fly those old buses that we used, though. The new planes are great to fly.You two are going to have a grand time.I’d rather fly than travel any other way.But I don’t think that it would be quitethe thing to suggest to my wife now thatI would rather fly to Europe with her thantake the boat. So old Hank will be a landanimal this time. Or rather, a water animal, instead of a bird.”

“A sort of – fish?” laughed Bill.

“Shut up, you,” said Hank. “Now, listen, how about that offer of my cabin andmy plane for your vacation? It’ll be agrand trip, and I guarantee that you’ll likethe cabin on the mountain. Nobody aroundfor miles, except Jake, who takes care ofthe place for me. In fact, there’s no townfor a hundred miles around. About the onlypractical way of getting there is by plane.Just think, old man, all of that beauty andsolitude going begging. You can get rightback to nature there, live a wild life, orhave all the conveniences of home, whicheveryou chose. We’ve got the place all fixedup. It’s a real man’s place, and you’ll loveit. And I’d like to see somebody who’d appreciateit have it this summer. And I knowyou would.”