Landing in Luck

[1] Appearing in the November 26, 1919 issue of The Mississippian, a literary magazine at the University of Mississippi, "Landing in Luck" tells the story of Cadet Thompson, who is sent on a solo flight without adequate instruction.

Thompson lands successfully, and his flight instructor, Bessing, takes credit for the fine job he did of teaching the cadet pilot.

While a student at the School of Military Aeronautics at the University of Toronto in 1918, Faulkner had many opportunities to observe the operations at this airfield.

As a cadet-pilot, Faulkner probably never even flew a plane; his RAF unit was disbanded early in his training because World War I ended.

Several of Faulkner's early works featured aviators as central characters, and he treated them as romanticized, tragic heroes as he did Confederate cavalry officers.