5

of wind and rain - hadn't flown
since Sunday morning - and last
night was puffy. Some of the boys
came down from double-control
flight in perspiration saying it
had taken all their strength
and nervous energy keeping
the plane straight! and there
were several bad landings made
(Hear me crow now!) and while
I was telling them in my simple
and unpretentious manner that
it was glorious bouncing around
at a hundred metres altitude,
and they were accusing me of
posing, our little Franco-Italian
moniteur called for me to go up
with the Chef, and they knew
then that I was to have a trial
at soloing (maybe I wasn't tickled
to make my first flights alone
in rough weather!) It went well.
The sense of power a fellow has
up there alone with his sensitive
plane responding to every variation
of wind, and to every move of
the aerolons and elevators! On