WAR

en route to verdun the end of February 1916 Georges Guynemer shot down
his eighth victim, but was shot down himself shortly after his arrival. On March
13, after two inconclusive encounters with enemy machines, he came across two
more and attacked the first head-on. He passed under the machine whose observer
got in a good burst so that Guynemer's face was peppered with splinters. His
goggles filled with blood and he reached up to tear them off, but his left arm
wouldn't move—it had two bullets through it. He snatched off the goggles with his
right hand, letting go of the stick, and the Bebe went into a spin. He brought
the aeroplane under control and got worked over some more by a third enemy
machine. He escaped further injury and the proximity of the French lines deterred
further pursuit. He crash-landed behind his lines and was badly shaken up.
He was evacuated to Paris the next day, but spent the greater part of his
recuperative leave at his father's house at Compiegne. As soon as he was able
to be up and around he went to the air depot at Vauciennes to look over his
new Bebe. As soon after that as he felt fit enough to fly he took it up to keep
his hand in.
He began to wonder about his nerve. He was
vaguely uneasy about how he might react to combat.
He was afraid he might want to back out of a fight, or
break off, unable to go through with it. He decided he
would have to test his mettle before rejoining the
squadron. Accordingly, he rose before dawn one morning,
went to Vauciennes, checked out the Bebe, and
took off. Cruising along the lines he spotted a German
two-seater and launched a feint attack. He had decided
the way to test himself was to keep making feint attacks
without firing
a shot until he had reached a point
that was equivalent to psychological dominance over
his adversary.
The German gunner opened fire, but the Nieuport flipped wildly out of the
way and came in from the other side. He swung the Parabellum around and
fired and the Bebe dropped out of sight, coming in from the blind spot under
the tail. And so it went. After firing several bursts at the Bebe, the gunner ceased,
and refused to fire. Guynemer waved and flew back to Vauciennes, satisfied that
he had not lost his nerve or become otherwise unfit to be a pilote de chasse.
He had left the house early and he got back early. The rest of the family
was still asleep and he let himself in quietly so as not to awaken anyone.
from the autumn of 1916 a new Spad single-seater was issued to the French
escadrilles de chasse where it quickly made a name for itself. The Spad 7 was a
variation of the Spad A. 2, redesigned to take a stationary eight-cylinder engine.
The word "Spad" was taken from the initials of the company that produced the
aeroplane, the Societe pour Aviation et ses Derives, or Society for Aviation and
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