January 17, 1916
Finally the weather opened enough for us to fly. Having lost my plane I had to take another one. The weather was so cold that only my plane´s engine started. I went alone to make a sweep over the front. When I first saw them I thought that a scout was escorting a photo recon biplane. I was wrong. At the time I wasn't aware but this was the newest French scout. Le Nieuport 11 Bébé."
They weren't immediately aware of me.
The French were sightseeing and for once I was happy with that.
I cut a hard right. Head on passages were unavoidable but I've always feared the outcome. It was always a very chancy business.
So I moved right trying to position myself behind them.
Only then they saw me. The Morane Saulnier N was already well known to me, but the other one was a new design, and small it seemed.
They turned to face me and I was now in a better position. The new design was a single seat, therefore a scout. It had a machinegun over the upper wing.
The Morane fired at me but failed me by a yard.
I fired back with precision, damaging him.
Then the new scout turned hard left in a very tight turn that I couldn't possibly follow. But it over shoot and put himself right in front of my cross-hairs.
I fired a long stream of bullets and my machinegun jammed. But the sudden spasm in the French pilot gave me the impression that I wounded him.
Then I cut a hard left, trying to clear my jammed machinegun.
I was now in an inferior position. Right in the middle of both French pilots.
I made a reverse and put my eyes in the new model. I knew what the Morane could do so I was more worried with the biplane.
And I put myself under his cross-hairs, in a reverse of fate.
He fired a point blank shaking my plane. I must have been lucky because the damage seemed less than it should have been. But now the cables were stiffer and my right turns seemed less swift.
He turned right and I went on for another reverse.
And I got behind him. I fired carefully.
And I got him in his tail fin, doing quite a damage.
But just then he surprised me with quite a perfect immelmann.
He hit me again in my wires and the cables went loose. My stick lost almost all the right turns control.
I fired back and my bullets raked the pilots compartment and I saw him lose conscience or even...
Well... His biplane spiraled down until it hit the ground.
I decided that I had enough so I moved away into our lines...
The Morane's pilot didn't seemed very eager to chase me...
I had been lucky. That plane was better than my Eindecker.. I wanted one of those...
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