Alan helps Charles to capture a German plane and its crew. Entertaining the captured officers does not go to plan. The captured plane may be the perfect choice for a covert mission.
Mounting aerial losses cause their commanding general to order the flight into forward action, to engage the Germans and protect the reconnaissance aircraft. Alan gets a Lewis gun fitted to his aircraft, and a new French engine.
Gaylion gets a taste of the horrors of life in the trenches when his plane is forced down and he must wait overnight for the arrival of a replacement propeller.
A new German monoplane is causing massive losses and the British military hierarchy do not believe their planes are being so outclassed. The reason for their success is found from an unlikely source.
Charles devises a method of fitting a Lewis gun to their plane, and Alan makes it a reality, but in their first aerial combat they find the design still needs work, when they shoot out some struts in their own plane.
Alan is still in occupied territory, and plans an escape. A German attack on Sainte Marie means all but one of their planes are destroyed, and several men are killed.
Alan is recommended for a commission, but does not receive a lot of support from either the other officers or the NCOs, apart from Triggers, who recommended him. His conduct in shooting down observation balloons affects the result.