I grip the “joy-stick” fiercely with both hands. Ah! She’s over. Now the rush down, and then level once more. Now I’ll get off to the aerodrome and show them how to do it.

I did a couple more quite close to the aerodrome—beauties; and then came down in a steep spiral. They were all at a height of 6,000 feet, and I only lost 400 feet each time. Four good loops at the first time of attempting a loop isn’t bad considering I had never even looped as a passenger. Strangely enough, I wasn’t half so excited as I expected to be, and once accomplished, the feat seemed easy and not out of the ordinary. But to set your minds at rest I do not intend to go in for stunting.

I am quite bucked, though, at having done it, and it was a curious sensation, to say the least. I have been heartily congratulated: they were “d—d good loops!”

* * * * *

Thanks ever so much for the pastries and the cake. They were ripping. But really, though, you mustn’t trouble so much over me in the food line, for we have to pinch ourselves and tell each other “There is a war on” sometimes when we get some unusual delicacies. By the same post I got a pound of lovely nut chocolate from S. We had a tremendous scrap in the Mess over it when I discovered what it was, and it ended up with the box of chocolate on the floor, with me on top of it, and five people on top of me. When they discovered that the more people there were on top of me the farther off became the chocolate, they got up, and I handed it round in the usual civilised manner. It was great fun, though, and the chocolate being in a tin did not suffer.

We had a visit from Ian Hay’s friend to-day, if you recall a certain incident in the trenches. He recently got the Military Cross.[10]

* * * * *

One of the difficulties I have to contend with here is finding out the correct day and date. Days here are all one to us, and it has even sometimes to be put to the vote.

Yesterday I spent four and a half hours in my machine! Not all in the air, though. I took up fifteen different passengers, and gave them all a spiral. They were sent over to see what signalling on the ground looks like from a ’plane. I don’t think any of them had been up before. At Hendon I should have made between £30 and £40 for that.