[Received May 3, 1918]
[#45]
Carleton House,
Ayr.
Scotland
April 17, 1918.
Dear Mother and Father:
Just a line to enclose 8 prints. The good ones as you will see are taken by a friend.
I have just finished breakfast and am going to stop at the photographer on my way out to the airdrome.
Yesterday I took my first ride on an S.E.5. The type of scout that is doing so well in France now. It was not a particularly good one, not as tight and smooth mechanically as a Spad but very easy to fly although every time I tried to half roll it to the right she would full roll. The propeller torque is very strong and you have to account for it all the time. It makes a lot of difference whether your engine is off or on. She will hardly spin to the left, but goes around as fast as a Spad when nose spinning to the right.
Hope you will like the photos. Got nice letters from Mr. King and Mary B yesterday.
Lovingly,
Parr
Several photos from this time have inscriptions on the back indicating that they were taken “by Wheelock,” and he is probably the friend Parr mentions here. Louis Ward Wheelock, Jr., was four years behind Parr at Cornell. He graduated from ground school at Cornell in early August 1917 and was a member of the first Oxford detachment.349
Parr’s Pilot’s Flying Log Book indicates that this first ride was on B660, an S.E.5a. It is interesting that Parr mentions strong torque to the right. This is frequently mentioned in connection with Sopwith Camels, which had rotary engines, but almost never in connection with the SE5 with its inline engine.