er profit from his advantage and race away
to safety, or at once begin to manoeuvre for position. If he is made of
stern stuff, he attempts the latter feat without delay. The pursuer, if
he realises that he is out classed in pace, divines that his quarry will
start climbing if he intends to show fight, so he begins to climb also.

Now success in this tactical move will accrue to the machine which
possesses the finest climbing powers, and here again, of course,
speed is certain to count. But, on the other hand, the prowess of the
aviator--the human element once more--must not be ignored. The war has
demonstrated very convincingly that the personal quality of the aviator
often becomes the decisive factor.

A spirited contest in the air is one of the grimmest and most thrilling
spectacles possible to conceive, and it displays the skill of the
aviator in a striking manner. Daring sweeps, startling wheels,
breathless vol-planes, and remarkable climbs are carried out. One
wonders how the machine can possibly withstand the racking strains to
which it is subjected. The average aeroplane demands space in which
to describe a turn, and the wheel has to be manipulated carefully and
dexterously, an operation requiring considerable judgment on the part of
the helmsman.

But in an aerial duel discretion is flung to the winds. The pilot
jambs his helm over in his keen struggle to gain the superior position,
causing the machine to groan and almost to heel over. The stem stresses
of war have served to reveal the perfection of the modern aeroplane
together with the remarkable strength of its construction. In one or two
instances, when a victor has come to earth, subsequent examination has
revealed the enormous strains to which the aeroplane has been subjected.
The machine has been distorted; wires have been broken--wires which have
succumbed to the enormous stresses which have been imposed and have
not been snapped by rifle fire. One well-known British airman, who was
formerly a daring automobilist, confided to me that a fight in the
air "is the finest reliability trial for an aeroplane that was ever
devised!"

In these desperate struggles for aerial supremacy the one party
endeavours to bring his opponent well within the point-blank range of
his armament: the other on his part strives just as valiantly to keep
well out of reach. The latter knows fully well that his opponent is at
a serious disadvantage when beyond point-blank range,