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Letter from Douglas to his mother
NAS: GD486/62
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Navigation School
H M Dockyard
Portsmouth
15 August 1915
Dear Mother
…That joy ride at Hendon last weekend was very fine. The exhaust gases from the engine were coming back to me and though it was a bit difficult to breathe it was very warm and comfortable.
At 3000 ft we went into a cloud and at once it got very cold. Then coming through it and above it we saw Hendon through a gap and we – came – down. Down in about 1½ minutes something like the line across on the other page.
It was gorgeous, no other word can describe it. I had a touch of cold feet at the bottom as Commander Groves is notorious for his landings having smash[ed] innumerable machines. I thought we were going to crash straight into the ground but he flattened out perfectly touching the ground about 10 yds after flattening out. The machine, a Curtiss biplane, is a rather good flyer but has a weak landing-chassis. It looks something like this…
I remain your affectionate son
Douglas
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