Lieutenant Reynolds had an experience far more alarming. Apart from the fact that he was flying higher than his companion, the machine he was piloting was a military biplane fitted with weight-carrying extensions, which made it more difficult than an ordinary machine to control in a wind. When the first gusts struck him. Lieutenant Reynolds sought to follow the other pilot’s example, and make a descent. He had actually come down from 2000 feet to about 1500 feet, when a sudden and overwhelmingly powerful rush of wind caught the biplane, and turned it completely upside-down. As the machine swung helplessly over, entirely beyond its pilot’s control, Lieutenant Reynolds had the presence of mind to switch off his engine. This probably prevented the biplane from rushing pell-mell to destruction. The next thing that the young airman remembers was clinging desperately to the edge of the lower main-plane, having been swung abruptly out of his driving-seat—which was now above his head. Upside-down, and beyond any possibility of control, the aeroplane began to fall to the ground, which was more than 1000 feet below. It would appear that nothing but a miracle could save an airman under such circumstances as these; and Lieutenant Reynolds, certainly, regarded his chances as being slender. But, extraordinary as it may seem, the extent of his injuries, in this 1000-feet fall, were a sprained ankle and a general shock; and this is how the miracle happened. The big biplane, being very lightly laden, did not fall sheer to the ground, but came fluttering down like a box-kite. At first, after overturning, it dived a short distance, tail-first; then it came to a halt, and floated down for a second or so, following up this manœuvre by a forward dive, and another period of floating. Lieutenant Reynolds continued to cling grimly to the lower plane; and the machine came down in a field, still upside-down, and with its running wheels thrust up in the air. At the actual moment of striking the ground, the aeroplane was fluttering, and not diving. This was fortunate for the pilot, as the biplane came in contact with the earth without any great violence. Many a man’s nerve would have been shattered by such an experience, but this was not the case with Lieutenant Reynolds. He was soon flying again, as though nothing had happened. There is, therefore, reason for stating that England has the right material among her few military airmen. ELEVENTH SECTION THE COST OF WAR AEROPLANES I. Why manufacturers charge high prices—Cost of experimental work—Building of trial machines. A decidedly interesting question is that of the cost of aeroplanes. It represents a consideration, also, which is of practical importance from the military point of view.