Most tempting gents' and thanks for the kind invitation - I'll run a few more practice campaigns however to minimize chances of embarrassing myself in the DiD threads where the seasoned experts and hot-shot aces fly.

To continue with Ltn. Johnny Dobson's adventures....flight no. 2

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The next flight was again in poor weather. Fortunately the rain wasn't falling this time around, but the winds were rather nasty above about 1000 m alt., requiring constant correction with rudder to minimize slipping in these strange Parasols. The flight was a bit over half-an-hour in length - once again, being brave and occasionally foolhardy flyers - we chanced it (slightly) and didn't follow the flight plan exactly, but veered off several kilometers to the right, over the German side of the lines, towards Ledegem in Belgium. This allowed for better observation of the battle taking place below, and of troop positions.

Spotted was some solitary aircraft flying far below, at an altitude of no more than a couple of hundred meters - but I decided not to experiment and we continued the flight back uneventfully, doing a wide circle over Ypres - and then back to the closer (and smaller) of the two 'dromes near Armentieres. I was pleased to see that none of the other fellows would sink into the mud this time at the far end of the 'drome, it having dried somewhat overnight, most likely.

Another pleasant surprise was that on the next day I was promoted from Ltn. to Captain - for what reason precisely I did not inquire - perhaps for my tendency to fly further over the German lines than recommended by the flight plans ("forward action" as it's called at HQ).
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Von S