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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0542.PDF
f/^JGHT JULY 16, 1910. THE. BOURNEMOUTH THERE are many things which have been brought forcibly home during the past few days as the direct outcome of the terrible accident at the Bournemouth aviation meeting on Tuesday, when the Hon. C. S. Rolls was instantly killed by the fall of his machine when in full view of the spectators. Firstly, of course, is the profound feeling of loss, not only on the part of those who could reckon him as a personal friend, but also on the part of that ever-growing section of the entire British public which had rightly come to recognise in him the plucky and enterprising type of man of whom the country seems to be particu larly in need just now. In view of all that Mr. C. S. Rolls has been and has done, in view of the fact that he was as yet still quite a young man, and considering the place that he must have occupied with his parents, Lord and Lady Llangat- tock, the full force of the blow has proved almost staggering. Apart from the purely personal aspects of this fatality—in connection with which FLIGHT desires to add its most heartfelt condolences to Mr. Rolls' bereaved parents—there is quite another point of view which ought also to be emphasised. Although on ty 33 years of age, Mr. Rolls had already done what it has fallen to the lot of very few men to do, and what only a very small percentage of men are capable of doing, whatever may be their opportunities. He had made a name in connection with the comparatively modern combination of scientific study and practical adaptation to the needs and desires of humanity, and had not only personally had the gratification of knowing the value of his achievement, but was actually happy in his recognition of the dangers that he had to court in order constantly to do useful things that no other man had done before him. It is well in fact for everyone to recognise the grandeur of such records as those of Rolls, and even the grandness attached to such deaths as that which it fell to his lot to meet. It was not as though he was not perfectly aware of the inevitable risks that he had been running year after year, first with the early automobiles, then with his balloons, and lastly with aeroplanes. And one cannot but feel it well for the youth of today to realise that for sheer enjoyment of life few can probably claim to have experienced even a tithe in the aggregate of that which Rolls must have enjoyed during his invaluable career. Being the first British aviator of the modern school to have met his death in connection with aeronautic research—omitting, of course, Mr. Pilcher—and being at the same time so prominent a personality, the occurrence cannot but have a very marked influence one way or the other upon most other men who are fitted by nature to be pioneers, as well as upon many of his fellow airmen. The former should recognise the dignity that is lent to this type of work by the universal esteem in which they have now been afforded an opportunity of seeing that Mr. Rolls has been held; while those already engaged in this important and valuable sphere of development and research, will hardly fail to be encouraged by the knowledge of the appreciation on the part of the public, from the highest to the lowest, that has been so markedly in evidence during the week. Another line of thought almost equally irresistible is similarly suggested. Practically we may take it that Mr. Rolls had become sufficiently accustomed to flight on his machine to be immune from what might be termed all the more elementary of risks. Probably none of these would ever have brought him into such a predicament as that which terminated his splendid career on Tuesday. Apparently, in fact, nothing but a derangement of an equivalent character to the breaking of the steering-gear on a motor car could well have enabled fate to claim him as a victim in the'way that it has done. Hence, just as was the case with the motor car ten years or so ago, pioneering had for him, and still has for all the more prominent of his fellow-airmen, developed into continued trial almost to destruction of machine after machine in order to bring to light the faults, so that each and every one could be ascertained and remedied as speedily as possible before they could be duplicated. The real significance of this last-mentioned point is two-fold, inasmuch as it not only means that there is still ample field for quite a small army of pioneers in this country, but also because it answers largely the question that many a thoughtful reader must have found on the tip of his tongue at times during the last few days. We mean, of course, that doubts are natural as to whether the endeavour to achieve particularly difficult feats at aviation meetings, such as that at Bournemouth, ought to be expressly encouraged, and an abnormal degree of strain thereby be imposed upon the machines. And we answer the query in the affirmative, because we feel that progress essentially depends upon experience and knowledge, while at the same time there is nothing like these meetings, and these especially difficult tasks, to afford that very experience to which we refer. The expression of things like this may perhaps seem to be somewhat cold-blooded at the present time. But there is not the slightest doubt that the good of the cause far outweighed in his estimation all personal considerations of self, and that the Hon. C. S. Rolls—enthusiast, worker and patriot as he was—would desire nothing better than that his death, like his life, should be not without its helpfulness. That perhaps is why, moreover, we would take this opportunity of emphasising the fact that from the very first his inclinations were towards anything and everything of a mechanical kind, and that his bent was, in fact, one which is all too often checked rather than encouraged. There are many like Mr. Rolls for whom ordinary routine instinctively has quite the converse of any attraction, and for whom there is yet more and more demand year by year if only it were known. Surely the triumphant career of the man who only recently flew from Dover to Calais and back without alighting ought to do much to render easier the lot of others who are capable under favourable circumstances of following in his footsteps. 540
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