On September 23rd, 1916, Kiffin and Raoul flew another patrol. They soon encountered three German Fokkers. Lufbery’s gun jammed during the ensuing dogfight (a common problem – pilots retained the top wing gun as a backup) and a bullet broke a spar in his plane’s wings, so he and Kiffin disengaged. Kiffin escorted Raoul to the nearest French air base, where Raoul landed for repairs. Kiffin then went looking for trouble by himself. He encountered a German two-seat Albatross over the village of Roderen. The situation was almost identical to the one Kiffin encountered on his first victory, four months previously. Kiffin dove on the enemy plane, ignored the enemy gunner’s fire, and waited until the last minute to fire himself. This time, however, Kiffin’s shots missed and the enemy’s shots hit home. Kiffin was killed instantly, and his plane spun into the ground leaving the wreckage shown here. (Photo courtesy of Washington & Lee University.)