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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0570.PDF
pjgSr] JULY 2;, 1910* BOURNEMOUTH AND IT* „„,„ „T „ INTERNATIONAL FLYING WEEK. A DIARY OF THE HAPPENINGS. Claude Grahame-White (Henry Farman), Thursday, July 14th. ATTEMPTS for the Starting Prize opened Thursday's proceedings, and by dint of limiting the time for this event to the period between eleven and one o'clock the officials managed to create the first real signs of genuine and continuous activity that had up to that time prevailed in the camp. Even so, many competitors did not think it worth while to compete before half past twelve, and the last available fifteen minutes were relatively crowded. Indirectly this led to trouble, for there was insufficient time in which to allow all competitors even two of the three attempts to which they were entitled, and by an error in one of the marshal's watches Grahame- White's second effort was included and at first ranked victorious. Protest followed, and the foreigners, as a sign of disapproval, promptly struck the flags that fly above their sheds. In Com mittee, however, the officials straightened things out and peace reigned once more. It was all very unfortunate and equally unneces sary. In the Judges' box were three of the best timekeepers in England—Ebblewhite, Dutton, and Reynolds—who might properly have been entrusted with signalling the duration of the event by means of a flag on the official mast. The result of the dispute placed the prize in the hands of Dickson, who well deserved it, more as some recognition of the general merit of his performances than on account of any particular brilliancy about his victory in this particular event. He won by an inch—and the measurement depended on the ocular observation of a coterie of Judges whose duty it was to determine the exact spot at which the wheels left the ground ! For our own part we could not say to a foot where any one wheel left the ground, and it is not always that both wheels rise together ; so that to have awarded the prize on the difference of one inch was scarcely in the best interests of sport, notwithstanding the desirability of accepting judgment in such matters as being without appeal. The real trouble seems to lie in the system of organisation which gives one official a multitude of duties. Apparently on that occasion Major Lloyd had to act as marshal, timekeeper, measurer, judge, and clerk of the course. It was, at any rate, something to have got one event finished off, for the general attitude of the competitors has been to leave every thing to the last, and it seemed very much as if the whole meeting would be rushed through on Saturday evening. What the spectators think of the long iate:vals it is difficult to say, but if they are very bored they are at least very patient and they applaud loyally when ever they are entertained by a flight. All the same it is inconceivable that they can frequently be attracted to a flying meeting once they are familiar with the sight of an aeroplane in the air. Flying is, of course, the wonder of the age, and is something everyone should see ; moreover a good flight is a fine spectacle, but when it is no longer a novelty to the spectator, only the enthusiastic, we should- imagine, would be found willing to wait all day on the chance or seeing a machine aloft. The crux of the situation is that the organisation is entirely under the thumb of the competitors, who fly or. not as they please. That is as it should be ; flying is at present a hazardous game, and the pilots have a right to say when and how they will take their chance. A man who has been brave enough to learn to fly has no need to be called a coward because he won't go up when somebody wants him to. On the contrary, sound judgment is the greatest asset of a good pilot. On the other hand there is very little doubt that some of the competitors, at any rate, could have flown far more often than they did without incurring greater risks than they had already shown themselves willing to meet, and it would seem desirable that the organisation of a flying meeting should result as far as possible in a continuous series of flights, not only because that would be more interesting to the spectators, but because it would afford far better evidence of the real progress that has been made in flying. With the Starling Prize on Thursday, the Alighting Prize was also- decided, competitors being allowed to try for both with the same flight. The necessity for making a turn in the wind, however,, deterred some competitors from attempting the latter feat, although the wind itself was in a favourable quarter. Grahame-White, Christiaens, and Dickson flew for the double event, and the prize was won by Grahame-White, who pulled up 7 ft. from the centre. This seems an excellent result, but it is really very difficult to say that it is worth much. If alighting in a very restricted area were- ordinarily necessary, an aeroplane designed for such purpose would presumably be equipped with landing skids, or at any rate with some device that would assist the pilot in bringing his machine to- rest. Nowadays about half-a-dozen assistants commonly seize a. machine as it comes to earth, and exert their efforts against its momentum, while the monoplanist has a pretty habit of vaulting out of his seat, and similarly helping to stop the machine himself. Under such circumstances it would seem obvious that the stopping of a machine on a given spot is very much of a trick that anyone with a simple and entirely legitimate piece of apparatus could easily surpass. Ogilvie, whose Short-Wright biplane is of the T. Armstrong Drexel (Bleriot). 568
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