"I look on flyers as athletes playing a game---the greatest game
the world has ever seen. The more expert we can make them individually,
the better the service will be. A nimble flyer, a real star man, is
almost sure to score off a less expert antagonist, even if the better
man is mounted on an inferior plane. That has been proven to me beyond
all possibility of doubt time and time again.
"I was once a football coach. My work here, so far as it touches men,
is very similar to coaching work. It comes down to picking the good
ones, sorting them out, weeding, weeding all the time. You like
those particular three boys you referred to? Well, watch them.
Give them chances. But don't be disappointed if they are not all
world-beaters. And don't be surprised if some of the lot you think
will stick at the steadier, plainer work turn out big. You never can
tell."
Before the strain of expert acrobatics came careful training in
machine-gunnery. The Brighton boys went through a course of study on
land that made them thoroughly familiar with machine-guns of more
than one type.
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