The two boys fell in alongside of him with the three others trailing behind. At the hangar, one of the mechanics helped the major wheel out the plane. Then the mechanic hunted up a couple of jackets and goggles for the boys. When everything was ready, the major said, “All right, boys, climb into the observer’s seat. If you make yourselves small enough, there will be plenty of room for both of you.”
They climbed in. The other three boys were told to retreat about a hundred yards away. Finally the major got into the cockpit. Turning to the boys, he asked them, “Everything all right? Not frightened?”
They shook their heads and assured him that they felt perfectly at ease. The mechanic grasped hold of the propeller. “Ready! Switch off! Suck in!” he shouted.
“Switch off! Suck in!” answered the pilot.
The boys leaned over to watch what the pilot was doing. As the mechanic turned the propeller over about half a dozen times, the pilot, with a few strokes of the doping pump, sprayed gasoline vapor into the cylinders. “Contact!” cried the mechanic.
“Contact!” replied the major. He pressed down the switches and quickly turned the handle of the starting magneto. Brrr ... brrrr ... went the engine. The mechanic sprang away. The mechanic made as though to bound forward but was checked by the wooden chocks, placed in front of the under-carriage wheels.
Just as he was ready, he turned back and asked, “Are you ready boys?”
“Yes, sir,” they replied.
“Very well, then, we’re off.”