elm has now flown a distance of 9,400, I 7,300, kilometers over
enemy soil.

LETTER OF NOVEMBER 15, 1914

Mother doesn't need to be afraid that continual flying will affect our
nerves. The very opposite is more probable. We get most impatient if
we are kept idle a few days because of poor weather. We stand around
looking out of the window to see if it isn't clearing up. Nerves can
be the excuse for almost anything, I guess.

B., NOVEMBER 30, 1914

I did not get the Fokker as yet. I was to get it at R., Thursday. Too
bad. To fly for the artillery, which is our main work just now, the
Fokker is very excellent, because of its speed, stability and ease of
control. A new machine has been ordered for me at the factory, but I
cannot say if I am going to get it, and when.

P., DECEMBER 9, 1914

Bad weather. No important work. Now, we ought to be in the East, where
there is something doing.

Yesterday I was in R. and got my Fokker, which had arrived in the
meantime. It is a small monoplane, with a French rotary engine in
front; it is about half as large as a Taube. This is the last modern
machine which I have learned to fly; now I can fly all the types we
make in Germany. The Fokker was my big Christmas present. I now have
two machines: the large biplane for long flights and the small Fokker
for range finding. This 'plane flies wonderfully and is very easy to
handle. Now my two children are resting together in a tent, the little
one in a hollow, with its tail under the plane of the big one.

P., JANUARY 21, 1915

Since Christmas we have made the following flights: December 24th, an
hour and a half; December 25th, one hour; December 30th, one hour;
January 6th, one hour; January 12th, four hours; January 18th, two
hours. It was poor weather, so we could not do more than this. There
isn't much use in flying now, anyhow, as long as we do not want to
advance. We are facing each other here for months, and each side knows
the other's position exactly. Changes of position, flanking movements,
and bringing up of strong reserves, as in open warfare, is a thing of
the past when we stick to the trenches, so there is nothing to report.
There would be some sense in flying to find the range, but as we do
not want to advance at present our artillery does very little firing.
It is sufficient at this stage that an airplane takes