Flying Officer Kyte
08-19-2010, 08:58
As dawn broke over the lines and Nigel Bouncer- Smythe and I headed for Hunland, I wondered if I had done the right thing, in allowing young Nigel to fly the Biff whilst I piloted the new and as yet untried Snipe. It was fresh out from Blighty only days before and really needed more testing. Still the orders from Wing were quite explicit. Get the Recon photographs at all costs, and with Ginger Blaney missing, and presumed dead last night, there was only Nigel to fall back on, and after all he was a bit of a whizz with a camera.
So here we were, flying into the stiff easterly wind, with the golden dawn, and God only knew how many Huns in front of us.
Meanwhile, over Jasta 11 airfield near Lechelle, Rittm Manfred von Richthofen, his brother Lothar, and Hans Wolf were just climbing for height on their morning patrol, with the golden orb of the Sun behind them.
Nigel had lost height in order to start his first photographic run, before we were aware of the three Triplanes, tearing down on us out of the glare of the Sun.
Wolf headed straight for me, with his Spandaus stuttering, whilst Manfred and Lothar turned on the hapless Nigel, now on his vulnerable photographic run.
The first burst from Wolf hit me in the engine and a shard from my windshield seared across my brow wounding me and severing the elastic of my goggles.My own guns responded as we raced toward each other, and although half blinded by the wind on my exposed eyes, I saw the bullets strike home on his machine. Fortunately I had chosen to dive, in order to keep station on Nigel, as he decended for his photographic run. This meant that instead of a head on crash, i just managed to slip under Wolf's suicidal charge. he turned rapidly to get on my tail, but it was here that my Snipe proved it's worth. With it's better turning circle, I was soon on his tail, and pumping lead into him. In spite of his attempts at shaking me off, I continued to tail him until a spurt of flame told me that I had delivered the coup de grace to him. Instead of following him down, I dived after Nigel to try and stave off his inevitable demise at the hands of the Richthofen brothers.
However, all was not as it seemed. Nigel persued his majestic and inperturbable course as if no threat assailed him, whilst his rear gunner delivered a withering fire onto Manfred, who now developed engine trouble, just as his brother got a jammed left rudder causing him to cut across Nigel's front arc at close range.
By now I was on Manfred's tail and with a stall each turn, he had no chance of out running the Snipe and soon went the way of Wolf, smoking down to the ground, to make a forced landing.
Nigel had by now completed his photos and headed off for the lines with yours truly lagging behind to ensure that Lothar did not try any last minute heroics. having witnessed the fire power of the Biff, I don't think my ministrations were really needed. Apparently neither did young Richthofen, because it was not long before he headed off to see what had become of his brother.
Postscript. Miraculously neither Wolff nor Manfred were injured in the crashes, and will both cross swords with Kyte and Bouncer-Smythe again.
So here we were, flying into the stiff easterly wind, with the golden dawn, and God only knew how many Huns in front of us.
Meanwhile, over Jasta 11 airfield near Lechelle, Rittm Manfred von Richthofen, his brother Lothar, and Hans Wolf were just climbing for height on their morning patrol, with the golden orb of the Sun behind them.
Nigel had lost height in order to start his first photographic run, before we were aware of the three Triplanes, tearing down on us out of the glare of the Sun.
Wolf headed straight for me, with his Spandaus stuttering, whilst Manfred and Lothar turned on the hapless Nigel, now on his vulnerable photographic run.
The first burst from Wolf hit me in the engine and a shard from my windshield seared across my brow wounding me and severing the elastic of my goggles.My own guns responded as we raced toward each other, and although half blinded by the wind on my exposed eyes, I saw the bullets strike home on his machine. Fortunately I had chosen to dive, in order to keep station on Nigel, as he decended for his photographic run. This meant that instead of a head on crash, i just managed to slip under Wolf's suicidal charge. he turned rapidly to get on my tail, but it was here that my Snipe proved it's worth. With it's better turning circle, I was soon on his tail, and pumping lead into him. In spite of his attempts at shaking me off, I continued to tail him until a spurt of flame told me that I had delivered the coup de grace to him. Instead of following him down, I dived after Nigel to try and stave off his inevitable demise at the hands of the Richthofen brothers.
However, all was not as it seemed. Nigel persued his majestic and inperturbable course as if no threat assailed him, whilst his rear gunner delivered a withering fire onto Manfred, who now developed engine trouble, just as his brother got a jammed left rudder causing him to cut across Nigel's front arc at close range.
By now I was on Manfred's tail and with a stall each turn, he had no chance of out running the Snipe and soon went the way of Wolf, smoking down to the ground, to make a forced landing.
Nigel had by now completed his photos and headed off for the lines with yours truly lagging behind to ensure that Lothar did not try any last minute heroics. having witnessed the fire power of the Biff, I don't think my ministrations were really needed. Apparently neither did young Richthofen, because it was not long before he headed off to see what had become of his brother.
Postscript. Miraculously neither Wolff nor Manfred were injured in the crashes, and will both cross swords with Kyte and Bouncer-Smythe again.