Flying's Just Like White City Coaster

Have you ever ridden the Grey Hound at White City? Did you enjoy the dips and loops? If so, you would enjoy thoroughly being sailed through the air in an army plane, with the accompanying dips, spirals and figure eights.

"Any attempt to describe the sensation of the trip through the air would be terribly futile," according to Louis Mason Bruch, son of Mr. Louis Bruch of 1201 Greenwood avenue, student at the aviation ground school at Houston, Texas.

"Cove (an experienced aviator)was just ready to go up," says young Bruch in a letter recently received by his parents. "He only had to ask me once to go with him. I was given a leather coat, helmet and goggles, and we started.

"Any attempt to describe the sensation of the trip would be teribly futile, but I'll say it is far beyond anything I've ever experienced. Cove is an old hand at the game now, having been flying since September. We started off without any vibration at all and rapidly gained altitude until we cleared the hangars and the pylons. We took another circle of the field and got up finally to about 1500 or 2000 feet. Then we headed towards Houston and while over that city did some spirals some figure-eights and a few dips. the dips give exactly the sensation of the old roller coaster at White City. Looking down it was easy to see a lot of people watching us. Especially three little children who were in the center of a lot and who ran as fast as they could go for home when we started our first sprial.

Well, while we were over Houston, Cove throttled his motor down and then called to me the points of interest around the town. The engine roar is deafening and the propeller ran pretty strong.

On the way back, he let me get the feel of the controls by lightly gettin a hold of the "joy-stick" which controls the ailerons and the elevators. We did a few more spirals and figure-eights near the Field to loose our altitude, and then glided down, flattened out and landed without the slightest jar. We were up an hour and five minutes, which is pretty long for the first trip. But I'm overjoyed to find out that I can stand flying and that being up in the air isn't the least bit like standing on a cliff looking over or like being on top of a tall building. There is a perfect sense of security about it that comes from sitting down in something that moves along. The wind was pretty puffy, which rocked us some at times and occasionally gave us a bump, but Cove seemed to anticipate the wind all the time.

After the drills I went back to the Yorks and had dinner with two captains there, one from the British Air Service. Keeping in mind that I was only a private, I nevertheless pumped them all I could about the air service here and abroad, and for the first time I'm getting some real information on the whole thing so that I can better understand what I'm to do when I get a chance. I also saw some trick flying at the field, and enjoyed the whole thing.

Loud's being at Dallas gives me a possible chance to find out in advance what I'm going to do next. It really looks to me like a northern flying field. I couldn't wait longer to tell you that I've been up and enjoyed it. I'll be mighty restless until I get to a flying field.