FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0272.PDF
MAY 15, 1909. "Flight" Copyright Photo. Messrs. Short Bros.' Aercvdock at Shell beach which has been erected by Messrs. Harbrow.—In front are the cars of a few members of the Aero Club during a recent visit. the planes having caused some unexpected delay. It is some indication of the size of the Harbrow building, which in itself is a measure of the activity taking place, to remark that the Short flyer can be very comfortably accommodated transversely. At the opposite end of the shed, work is in progress on the Wright machines, but so far it is only the component parts of these which are visible. Adjacent to the Short factory, Messrs. Harbrow have also nearly finished another large building, which will be the Club members' garage, and a fine, lofty, dry " flyer- house " it will make. Near by is a neat little pavilion fitted with a stove and a sink, where, presumably, comforts for the inner man will be available. All these buildings are enclosed, or rather are being enclosed, by a fencing, so that this section of the ground will be kept clear of stray cattle. The site chosen for the buildings is close to the sea, and some couple of hundred yards or so from Muscle Manor—the picturesque old homestead which forms the Aero Club's headquarters. Inland, an expanse of ground covered with coarse tufted grass extends for a great distance, and this is the site on which it is to be hoped many interesting evolutions will be performed in the near future. Anyone who, having been somewhat impressed with the general outcry against the unsuitability of most tracts of land for the purpose of flight experiments, goes down to Shellbeach expecting to find a kind of Brobdingnagian tennis-court, is doomed to disappointment. In its present state, its surface has a good many pitfalls, and it is only necessary to drive a light-sprung car over the track from Muscle Manor to the " enclosure " to appre- ciate the possibilities of an ill-timed descent with a half- ton aeroplane. Work is in progress, however, which will in course of time remove most of the danger spots from the surface. The natural advantage of the ground mainly lies in its openness, and in the comparative absence of permanent irregularities likely to cause undesirable dis,- turbances in the local atmospheric conditions. Of the routes to Shellbeach by road, shown diagram- matically in the map published in the last issue of FLIGHT, there can be no question whatever of the advan- tage of proceeding via Maidstone to anyone who has the least eye for scenery. It is a longer route than that via Chatham, which is thoroughly unpleasant from start to finish. It is also of importance to mention that tarring operations are extensively in progress along the Maidstone road, so that just at the moment it is practi- cally impossible to escape from a spattering of this objectionable adhesive. A Few Words about the Buildings. So often is the aviator likely to be confronted in the near future with the necessity of putting up an erection " Flight" Copyright Photo. Two of the Aero Club's flight sheds during construction, and which are also being erected by Messrs. Harbrow. 274
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
