! Fighting the Hun in the Air!
-- #TT Flying maneuvers most frequently used by
By LIEUTENANT PAT O’BRIEN mduding^the “O’BRIEN LOOP." _^ |j
IJeut. Pnt O’Brien, who was shot
down and captured by the Germans
on the 17th of August. 11)17, and who
on the 8th of September Jumped
through the window of a German
prison train which was seeding him
to a German prison camp and made his
escape, tells in the following article
of the evolutions which he used when
engaged in air combat.
The evolutions described are those
wld<li are customarily used when an
aviator Is flying n single seater, and in
the type of a iqjichlne known as a
“lighting scout,” and which is capable
of u speed of from 11t) to l."rO miles an
hour. Those machines are very light,
some of them weighing not over ff»0
pounds, and with a wing spread of
16 feet.
These machines are equipped with
two machine gnus, one shooting
through the propeller, the other mount
cd atop one of the wings and so placed
us to penult the pilot to shoot straight
ahead, or when beneath an enem.v rna
ehine to so operate the gun as to shoot
straight upward, or it ran be operated
from an angle of 4f» degrees. The
equivalent of these scout machine*
with the two machine puns gives th<
aviator an added advantage.
It Is important that an uviator to
quirk of mind and of eye and able t(
Vf? £&/
Flying parallel with ground turn sidewise without l°slng speed by giving
machine rudder and hanking with stick at the same time. You then right
machine. This maneuver can he made either by rudder manipulation or by
stick manipulation.
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; I me O'BRIEN LOOP r
Hank your machine until absolutely vertical, with the none of the machine
slightly down. Motor vertically down In No. .'t pcmltlon ; the rudder the
elevator, the levator the rudder. The “Joy stick" Is neutral. The motor Is
then {sit «»n full jsiwer and befi>rv machine starts to slih* slip put ou all oppo
site rudder from direction In which yi>u are turning, and machine will go ov«.t
in a side loop. The advantage of this maneuver Is to deceive enemy ns to
direction. This evolutlou Is only isiasiMa ami practicable In one make of
timcbiuc, a Supwith Hup.
nake 111* declaton* Instantly. The
nore quickly lie Ih able to maneuver
ila machine the greater hi* advantage
>ver Ilia adversary, l'reammv for In
dsnrp, that a Hun was diving down on
iron from the rear. A pilot who la
julekly able to make the loop comps
JUt (it the loop alxive and ta>hlnd hla
idversnry, and In turn I* able to dlsrr
town ujxiii him uaually before he can
•omplete hi* dire and perform a coun
--~~l
are ickng to make a turn, wirm lu fart
you hank your machine and loop stde
wine instead of "lint surface on” as
you do io exeewting the ordinary Wjpp.
Tim dlsudvontigte lu tire (Hftrlcn Uv*>
Is that ft require* a twy fight machine
with an exceedingly stroi® and senM
tlve rodder, for the reulKjh that in ex eg
Clrttng the (Tltrlen loop yrrar redder
answers the pun»*te of the elevator. !
Afl these maneuver* with one exrep
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Flying parallel with ground, turn nose <if nun him* up ami start loop. \\ In n i
1 completely upside down at top of loop you make a half roll l»y manipulatlug
1 rudder and stick, bringing you in upright position, and going in opp..slt. dire- -
! tlon than you were going at tin* start of tin* loop. You change direction and
| gain altitude. A \ery essential maneuver in coinhat.
or revolution which would place you
it a disadvantage
The evolutions described In this
'mire are those most frequently owed by
tvlators piloting these “tluhtln>r scout"
rnachlnes. '1 hat Is. with the exception
>f the <ntrlcn loop. This loop has the
idvantanu of throwing the adversary
“off.” In executing this loop hl> natu
ral Inclination Is to believe that >"Ut
1/
tion 11av♦ * boon oriiriuatnl l»v n\intor<;|
who inijrht lw class,m! as “nllttsl . \ i:i
Mrs.*’ 'I'ln* Imm**ltimn turn win in
v**ntt'fl by a ^r» at (icriiiini flyer of that
nam** win* Is now «l**iul. This Iuiinel
man turn Is a <b‘«-hl**'lly important ma
neuver, r*Miuirini: <iu 1«*k thought. *|uu*k
action, anti if siic<vs>fully <-<»in|*1«*t«•«I.
I \ I hk you positive ilominamv o\**r
)our nth * i sai >
Jfr/r7Zm^
Hunk machine sharply until vertical. I'ut on opposite rudder from dlrve- |
(Ion In which you are turning to hold n«»se of machine up. The rudder In (his
evolution becomes your elevator ami your elevator the rudder. This maneuver
I Is used in making sharp turns and figure S\s.
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An avlntor flying at thv front wttl
find tt Important and necessary to be
perfectly familiar with all these ma
neuvers. In fatty, an thoroughly should
a1 he acquainted with them tllat he
most tat able to jawfonn them almost
automatically. The gnroosful and
joJck maneuvering of his machhw will
nr* only aave hi in hi ran; a tight
pinch, I tail win Incrtstse bht chances of
'ringing tl«*u the enemy, hi tt«
floyal Plying corps “stunth*'- to en
couraged and the chap who to abta to
icrornfillrii the most evohjtttirn haa Mi
reward In not only the great popo
larlty ho achieves but to the tonsoSkr
tlf machines chalked op to rttoS0Te41t.
11
J/'AsYMAV AClCf jP/TA*-' j \
Flying along parallel with ground
dart elluili with motor olT. You go
ally a little ways In elimh whan mu
blne stalls. “Joy stick" Is bnok as
far as It will go. Fill on all rudder
possible, timehlue begins to ftill nose
flown, due to tho fact that motor Is the
leuvtest part of the machine. Y’ou fall
n n s]g a. To increase speed of spin
mt motor on. To go out of tha spin
iut control neutral. I Urectlou of spin
(i right or left determined by rudder
■olltrol.
Read Lieut. Pat O’Brien's Remarkable ^VTWiTTWTIT^1 HlfVn TTTTLT
Story of His Escape While a Prisoner in Germany I II I I II II 1^1 I ■■ I 14 I* 1*1 I I
Which We Have Secured for Our Next Serial JL WV JL JL JL JLLl^ ^LJ| JL JLJLJLdi JL JL JL^
Lieut. O’Brien, a brave young Irish-American was wounded in an air battle with enemy fliers. He was captured
but made bis escape and in this great story he tells in bis own way his remarkable experiences in making his way
to Holland and thence to the United States. His narrative is without a parallel in the annals of the war.
lL ■- - . . ~ DON’T MISS THIS GREAT STORY! OUR NEW SERIAL! —— -.•. —.