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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0571.PDF
SEPTEMBER 18, 1909. MR. CODY AND HIS AERIAL EXCURSIONS. MR. CODY will have to be careful or he will find himself besieged at all hours of the day by people who wish to have a lift across Laffan's Plain. On Thursday of last week, three times in succession he flew across the Plain and back again, each time taking with him an officer of the Royal Engineers attached to the balloon factory. Capt. Brooke-Smith was first, and he was followed by Capt. King and Capt. Carden. Then Mr. F. J. Robinson, connected with New Pegamoid, Ltd, the manufacturers of the Pegamoid waterproof fabric which has been adopted by Mr. Cody for the covering of his biplane, was taken for a similar trip, and to wind up the proceedings Mr. Cody took his son Leon on to Cove Common. Unfortunately, there a leak in the radiator compelled a descent, and it being impossible to repair it in the dark the machine was towed back to its shed, after a most interesting day. The next day, the gusty weather prevented flying, and Mr. Cody spent the time maturing his plans for his flight to Manchester. On Saturday Mr. Cody had a distinguished onlooker, the Empress Eugenie driving over from Farnborough in order to witness the trials. In the first, Mr. Cody was considerably hampered by the crowd, and only kept aloft for five minutes. He then went up again, and in order to avoid the crowds of spectators, was forced to make a rapid descent, damaging one of the planes, besides buckling three of the wheels. This was, however, set right in a quarter of an hour, when Mr. Cody went up for the last time and circled over Laffan's Plain three times. On coming down he was presented to the Empress by Lieut.-General Smith-Dorrien and congratulated on his success. A rather sharp accident marred the conclusion of a successful flight on Tuesday evening. After flying round Laffan's Plain at a fairly high speed, Mr. Cody decided to come down. Apparently, however, the wheels had not been properly re-adjusted after their buckling on Saturday, and when the machine touched the ground they jammed, bringing the aeroplane to a sudden stand- still. The shock threw Mr. Cody from his seat, and his face was rather badly cut, but otherwise this intrepid flyer was as cheery as ever. The front of the machine was also smashed up slightly, but this damage was quickly repaired. The Flight to Manchester. WITH regard to Mr. Cody's intention to attempt to fly between London and Manchester, Mr. Brock, of the well-known firm of firework manufacturers, has suggested that the route should be marked by clouds of coloured smoke from shells sent up at various points to a height of 300 ft. Mr. Brock has drawn up a provisional code of colours as follows, and suggests that shells should be fired at each point until the aeroplane passes, when the next point would take up the work. Mr. Cody should have no difficulty in seeing the clouds, for they would be about 150 yards along and would remain visible for three or four minutes :— 1 Berkhamsted ...Buckingham ... Leamington ... Red Dark blue Yellow BirminghamStafford Crewe Red Red and yellow Yellow and blue M. Bleriot Visits St. Stephens. ACCEPTING the invitation of Sir Benjamin Stone, M.P., M. Bleriot, together with many prominent gentlemen connected with aviation in this country, visited the House of Commons on Wednesday and was conducted over the House. At the lunch afterwards, Sir Benjamin Stone presided, having M. Bleriot on his right and Mr. Lloyd George on his left, the only toasts being " The King " and " M. Bleriot." Amongst others present were Mr. Walter Long, Mr. A. Du Cros, Mr. T. P. O'Connor, Mr. G. Renwick, Mr. Beville Stanier, Mr. Henniker Heaton, Mr. Percy Thornton, Lord Blyth, Capt. the Hon. R. Lygon, the Hon. C. S. Rolls, Col. Cody, Capt. W. G. Windham, Capt. Cave-Brown-Cave, R.N., M. Chereau, Col. Massey, C.B., Comte La Peyrouse, Dr. W. Lockyer, Mr. Hedges Butler, Mr. A. V. Roe, Mr. Alfred Norton, Dr. D. McKenzie, Mr. S. Renwick, Mr. A. P. Nicholson, Mr. E. P. Frost, and A. E. Robbins. Teaching Ladies to Fly. FROM Paris it is reported that the pro- minent aeroplane manufacturers are being inundated with letters from American and Frenchwomen who are anxious to skim around in the sky. One firm, it is stated, has decided to accept twelve lady pupils, who will be taught to fly, for a fee of j£ioo each. PARIS AERO SHOW.—Among the few British exhibits at the ParisAero Show which opens on the 25th inst., one of the most striking will be that of Messrs. Green Motor Patents Syndicate, who will have onview one of their 60-h.p. engines for aerial work. In the above photo- graph the 3O-h.p. motor is seen from the carburettor side. It will beremembered that full details regarding the many ingenious features of this engine, including the arrangement of copper water-jackets and over'head valves, appeared in our issue of April 3rd, 1909. 5-75
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