„ Started on cross-country to A. Mist very thick; lost my way, and found myself over London [No compass.--_Ed._] Turned and discovered Aerodrome “C” below me, so landed. Later, when mist cleared, restarted, but a following wind and mist made me over-shoot A., and landed in field near D. to find out whereabouts. Engine refused to start, so pegged down machine for the night, and ’phoned H.Q. „ Restarted next day when weather cleared up, but all landmarks covered by snow. Landed in field again, but decided to go on. So restarted, and again lost my way. Circled over town and railway, but could not decide what they were, and could not find a landing-ground. Eventually I found one and landed, just stopping in time at the other end. Kept engine ticking over, and was told was four miles from A. Restarted, clearing a large tree by one foot; saw blizzard coming up; had no time to land, so headed into it and flew for twenty minutes at 200 feet altitude unable to see either instruments or ground. Wind and storm increased in violence; was frequently blown up on to one wing tip, the machine side-slipping once to within a few feet of the ground, and just recovering in time for me to clear a house. Driving snow prevented machine from climbing and nearly drove it to earth. When a lull came and I saw a clear place beneath, I promptly circled round, clearing semi-invisible trees by a matter of inches (I was told). Finally landed well, and was running along the ground when a fence dividing the field in two loomed up a few yards ahead. Elevated, and the nose cleared it, but the tail skid did not, and caught the fence, bringing the machine down on its nose with a crash, and turning it over. My head went through the top plane, and I remained suspended upside down by my safety belt. „ Propeller smashes in mid-air. „ Tested new-rigged machine which had not been flown since it was smashed. Weather very bad for flying, much less testing a reconstructed machine. Did not seem to answer well to the controls and flew left wing down. Landed machine successfully and reported on it.[3] III FROM PASSENGER TO PILOT The following notes from “Theta’s” Diary show the progress from novice (with accompanying pilot) to certificated aviator (solo):