I've recently started a jaunt with 11 Squadron flying Bristol Scouts in Feb 1916. On one of the few decent days weather wise, who do I bump in to (not literally thankfully) but Rudolf Berthold of KEK Vaux. He wasn't in the mood for niceties it seems so I had little alternative but to flame the Fokker!
The Scout is a lovely aircraft to fly and whilst the shooting is a little weird it's certainly entertaining, especially against the two seaters. I've even tried it rolling 90 degrees so the gun is pointing up whilst holding the rudder, works for a few seconds.......great fun.
Speaking of bumping into things, I did have a too close encounter with a balloon on another trip. I managed to get home though, minus a chunk.
"A great deal of an aeroplane could be holed without affecting its ability to fly. Wings and fuselage could be—and often were—pierced in 50 places, missing the occupants by inches (blissfully unaware of how close it had come until they returned to base). Then the sailmaker would carefully cover each hole with a square inch of Irish linen frayed at the edges and with a brushful of dope make our aircraft 'serviceable' again within an hour."
