The only aeroplanes we have flown have been biplanes. Won't you tell
us something about this type?"
"Certainly," said the mechanic. "I was only joking. No one can
fly this sort of machine except the most experienced and best pilots.
It is the fastest machine in the world. It is a Morane, and they
call it a 'Monocoque.' Someone told me that the latest type German
Fokker was modeled on this machine. It is a corker, but the trickiest
thing to fly that was ever made. We have only got one here. I heard
a French flyer say the other day that the Spad biplane was faster
than this machine, but I don't believe it."
"What is an Ace?" queried Jimmy Hill.
"That term started with the French," answered the mechanic. "We
use it here now, sometimes. It means a superior aviator, who has
brought down five adversaries, in fair air-fight. The bringing-down
business, at least so far as the exact number is concerned, is not
always applied, I guess. They just call a man an Ace when he is
a real graduate flyer, and gets the habit of bringing down his Boche
when he goes after him.
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