(Extracts from “Theta’s” Private Log-Book)
| Date. | Remarks. |
| November. | Stalled machine all round aerodrome. Captain L——: “Flying with your tail between your legs: looked d—d dangerous.” |
| „ | Wind screen completely frosted over; had only done few solos; had to take machine to 1,000 feet, lean out, and clean screen. |
| „ | Same day got in hot air over factory chimneys. Hell! |
| January. | Second solo on new type. Side-slipped through turning without flying speed. Ghastly sensation. Captain ——: “You would have been killed on any other machine but a ——.” |
| „ | Another side-slip, but not so bad; pulled her out of it. |
| „ | First forced landing. Connecting rod broke, and inlet valve went. Machine ought to have caught fire. Was two miles from the ’drome. Just got in, machine vibrating horribly from 2,200 feet down. |
| February. | Worst day so far flown in. Chucked about like a leaf. No goggles, so could hardly see. Nearly strafed officers’ mess. Landing all right, but frightful day. |
| „ | Engine lost 100 revs. per minute over trees. Had to “bird’s-nest”; unpleasant. Lucky engine did not cut out altogether. |
| „ | Rising over hangars when another aeroplane rose and headed me over tree, and kept too close. Had I not turned quickly at low altitude might have rammed me. Unpleasant. |
| „ | Cut out just in front of trees at 50 feet. Steep bank; quick right-hand turn; landing close beside trees. O.K. |
| „ | As passenger; pilot, Lieutenant ——. Engine missing badly over trees. Attempted to land in small field, but seeing would crash into trees at the other side at 40 m.p.h. pilot put nose up, and with missing engine cleared them by inches, the wheels actually touching the top. Then more tree dodging and steep banks just above ground, landing in aerodrome. |
| March. | Climbed into clouds and steered by instruments out of sight of earth for practice. Spiralled down. |
| „ | Climbed 7,000 feet. Glorious view from above of clouds 4,000 feet below me. Most beautiful spectacle I have ever seen. Climbed till engine would go no higher, then stopped engine and did right- and left-hand spirals down, landing without starting engine again. |
| „ | Started on cross-country to A. Mist very thick; lost my way, and found myself over London [No compass.—Ed.] Turned and discovered Aerodrome “C” below me, so landed. Later, when mist cleared, restarted, but a following wind and mist made me over-shoot A., and landed in field near D. to find out whereabouts. Engine refused to start, so pegged down machine for the night, and ’phoned H.Q. |
| „ | Restarted next day when weather cleared up, but all landmarks covered by snow. Landed in field again, but decided to go on. So restarted, and again lost my way. Circled over town and railway, but could not decide what they were, and could not find a landing-ground. Eventually I found one and landed, just stopping in time at the other end. Kept engine ticking over, and was told was four miles from A. Restarted, clearing a large tree by one foot; saw blizzard coming up; had no time to land, so headed into it and flew for twenty minutes at 200 feet altitude unable to see either instruments or ground. Wind and storm increased in violence; was frequently blown up on to one wing tip, the machine side-slipping once to within a few feet of the ground, and just recovering in time for me to clear a house. Driving snow prevented machine from climbing and nearly drove it to earth. When a lull came and I saw a clear place beneath, I promptly circled round, clearing semi-invisible trees by a matter of inches (I was told). Finally landed well, and was running along the ground when a fence dividing the field in two loomed up a few yards ahead. Elevated, and the nose cleared it, but the tail skid did not, and caught the fence, bringing the machine down on its nose with a crash, and turning it over. My head went through the top plane, and I remained suspended upside down by my safety belt. |
| „ | Propeller smashes in mid-air. |
| „ | Tested new-rigged machine which had not been flown since it was smashed. Weather very bad for flying, much less testing a reconstructed machine. Did not seem to answer well to the controls and flew left wing down. Landed machine successfully and reported on it.[3] |
III
FROM PASSENGER TO PILOT
The following notes from “Theta’s” Diary show the progress from novice (with accompanying pilot) to certificated aviator (solo):
| Height. | Course. | Remarks. |
| 350 ft. | Circuits of Aerodrome | Calm and even; dusk; rested hands on controls. |
| 1,000 ft. | Round Aerodrome | Smooth; dusk; felt controls. |
| 1,000 ft. | Aerodrome and neighbourhood | Had control a little time, and did left-hand turn. |
| 900 ft. | Aerodrome | Controlled along straights. |
| 800–1,000 ft. | Aerodrome with occasional turns outside | Bumpy. Had control along straights for some time. Did several left-hand turns, and one complete turn right round. |
| 600–700 ft. | Aerodrome | Did circuits, turns, and one landing. |
| 600 ft. | Aerodrome | Bumpy; so did not get much control. |
| 500 ft. | Aerodrome | Controlled circuits, and two landings. |
| 600 ft. | Aerodrome | Entire control; recovery from bank not quite quick enough. One landing. |
| 400 ft. | Aerodrome | Better; two landings. |
| 300 ft. | Aerodrome | Two landings; taxi and take off. Told to go solo in afternoon. |
| 300 ft. | Aerodrome | Two good landings; one bad. Too bumpy for solo. |
| 400 ft. | Aerodrome | Bumpy; one landing. |
| 300 ft. | Aerodrome | One landing; bumpy. |
| 300 ft. | Aerodrome | Entire control, and then sent solo. |
| 350 ft. | Aerodrome | First solo; a few circuits and smooth landing. |
| 500 ft. | Aerodrome | All right. |
| 800 ft. | Aerodrome | Bumpy; landed with engine ticking over too fast. |
| 1,500 ft. | Aerodrome | Climbed too steeply and nosed down too much on turns. Very bumpy. |
| 700–1,000 ft. | Aerodrome | Calm; flew for half an hour solo; landing fairly good. Climbed at better angle and turns slightly better. |
| 500 ft. | Figure eights in ’drome | Did first part for ticket successfully, and landed right on T. |
| 500 ft. | Eights in ’drome | Did second part of ticket right again, landing within few yards of T. |
| 580 ft. | One wide circuit with engine switched off | Completed tests for R.A.C. Certificate. |
| 1,600 ft. | Aerodrome | Joy-ride; landed with too much engine. |