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![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Hogan-3-back-reads-June-28-.jpg\")
<\/a>My father, William N. Hogan Sr.,\u00a0was a cadet and then an instructor in the Air Service, which was part of the Signal Corps in the U.S. Army during the First World War. What follows is what I recall him telling me about his experiences when I was young.<\/p>\n
When his group arrived at the place of flying instruction, there were not enough planes to take them all up at one time. While he waited his turn to be wrung out to determine if he really wanted to fly, one of the planes came\u00a0straight down and crashed in front of them.<\/p>\n
When his turn came, he started to get in the rear cockpit of the two-seater. His pilot told him to get in the front cockpit and to keep his hands on the cowling where he could see them. He had a monkey wrench and told him if his hands disappeared, he would get the wrench in the back of his head.\u00a0The crash a few minutes before was caused by the cadet in the rear seat becoming panicky and grabbing the joy stick and freezing when they went into a dive.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nI believe they were part of the Signal Corps because their initial responsibility was as spotters for the artillery. Their instructors were Canadian, and they used French instruction manuals. The cadets wore officer\u2019s uniforms without any rank insignia. They had a white band around their garrison hat, the ones with the bill that were part of the dress uniform to indicate that they were cadets. The Canadian instructors told all the women in town that the white band indicated men with venereal disease, so to stay away from them. They, of course, wanted no competition for the girls.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThey mounted maps on the cowling of the cockpit, the dashboard if\u00a0you will, with thumb tacks. Their navigational instructions were often things like, \u201c\u2026follow the train tracks, turn left at the red barn\u2026\u201d\u00a0The entire flying field was loaded in trucks and moved-after a heavy\u00a0rainy stretch to drier ground. So they moved the \u201cfield\u201d\u00a0frequently.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nMy son Andy has my father\u2019s leather helmet and his silver\u00a0wings. Early on, the propellers had steel plates attached to the\u00a0inside of the blades as the machine guns were not synchronized with\u00a0the engine. On take off, the pilot was to circle the strip so your\u00a0mechanic on the ground could inform you with hand signals indicating\u00a0if a wheel or both fell off on takeoff. There were no radios or\u00a0parachutes for that matter, so forewarned, they could land a plane\u00a0safely, perhaps breaking a propeller. Should trouble occur away from\u00a0the field, an attempt would be made to pancake the craft into a tree.<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe planes were \u201cCurtis Jennys\u201d and were made by stretching Irish\u00a0linen over a wooden frame and shrinking it with banana oil paint,\u00a0much like the model airplanes I made when I was a boy. Should the engine\u00a0throw a spark or otherwise cause a fire it was all over. \u201d Field\u201d\u00a0designated a temporary area of operations and \u201cBase\u201d a more
\npermanent site.<\/p>\n