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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0223.PDF
MARCH I8, 1911. The Army airship " Beta" was brought out while Mr. Cody was flying, and made a splendid trip of over 40 mins. The very strong wind greatly hindered her progress, and she did not make more than 6 miles an hour when going against the wind. On Thursday evening Mr. de Havilland made a complete circle of Laffan's Plain with the Farman, which appeared to be in much better condition than on the previous day. London Aerodrome, Collindaie Avenue, Hendon. Grahame-White School-—Wednesday of last week was an exceptionally good day for flying ; the wind, having modified to a velocity of 8 miles per hour, was practically negligible. Quite early in the morning it was foggy, but as soon as it cleared away Greswell brought out the Gnome-Farman, and made a good flight of five circuits ot the aerodrome at an altitude of 250 ft. Hubert then for a spell took charge of the same machine, and repeated the manrvuvre. Preliminaries over, a very full day's flying instruction commenced. Turner was the first pupil to be taken up with Greswell for six circuits ; during the flight they mounted to 200ft., descending with the engine cut off. Mr. J. V. Martin was the next out, he taking his wife as a passenger for a 15-min. flight. Greswell then gave instruction to Ridley-Prentice, who took control of the machine during two circuits. On their descent the instructor gave Mrs. Martin an excellent flight, including several excursions over the neighbourhood. Hubert then took the instructor's seat, and took up with him Turner, who also had charge of the lever at intervals, to gain confidence in control. Two spectators were then given passenger flights, one of them being so impressed by his experience that he signified his intention of joining the school by signing a cheque for tuition straight away. Two more lessons were given before lunch by Hubert, who took Ridley-Prentice and Turner for flights of half-a-dozen laps, descending in each case en vol plant. Lunch over, Ridley-Prentice was again taken up by Greswell for several circuits of the aerodrome. At 2.45 the " New Baby " made its appearance with its designer, Mr. Grahame-White, at the lever, he flying three circuits at an average altitude of about 60 ft. Clement Greswell then took charge of the machine, and considering that it was his first trial of this new machine put up a remarkably good performance of six circuits; following thi.s, Martin made a similar flight. Owing to the rising wind work then had to be abandoned for a time. At 4.15 the three pilots, Messrs. Greswell, Martin and Hubert, came out on their respective machines, the Gnome-Bleriot, the " New Baby " and the Gnome-Farman, and practised the right-hand turn, which they all accomplished with success. By way of terminating the day's flying Hubert, with Ridley-Prentice as passenger, set off on a climbing expedition, and succeeded in forcing the old school Farman to an altitude of 600 ft. At that altitude he performed two figures of eight, then switched off his engine, planed to earth, and alighted faultlessly. The inclement weather on Thursday, which was blustery and rainy, put all thoughts of flying out of the question. Next day was an improvement ; and Martin was out as early as 7 o'clock in the morning, taking with him his wife as passenger for a 20-minute flight. Hubert then gave instruction to Turner on the school Farman, and during a long flight of half an hour's duration, the pupil occasionally took control of the machine. Mrs. Martin was also given another lesson by her husband, following which Greswell took Ridley-Prentice for a flight of half-a-dozen laps of [/ycED the aerodrome. At this stage the wind rose and unfortunately prevented any flying during the rest of the day. Saturday was an excellent day, the weather conditions being all that could be desired. Competition flights for the prize offered by Mr. Grahame-White and the B.A.R.C. jointly for the fastest return flight between Brooklands and Hendon rendering the day's proceedings extremely exciting ; while Mr. Grahame-White gave a rare demonstration of his exceptional capabilities as a Farman pilot. The first flight of the day was made by Greswell on a Farman, being more or less in the nature of a test before giving pupils instruction. Turner was the first to receive instruc tion being taken up by Greswell on the Farman for a long flight. Martin, in anticipation of flying to Brooklands, got out the Grahame- White " New Baby" racer, and made a good trip of three-quarters of an hour's duration, going right outside the aerodrome, and circling the Brent Reservoir. Meanwhile, Greswell had taken his friend, M. Prier, the Bleriot School instructor, for a flight on the school Farman. Hubert commenced his morning instruction by taking Ridley-rrentice for an extended flight, fallowing which he gave passenger flights to Messrs. Cedric Lee and .1. G. Kitchen. At this stage Greswell made a most interesting flight on the Gnonu- Bleriot, by way of testing the machine preparatory to leaving for Brooklands. While Hubert was flying with Mrs. Martin as passenger, Greswell set off, after attaining an altitude of 1,000ft., for Brook lands. Grahame-White then mounted the school Farman and gave a really wonderful exhibition of quick turns, banking up to an angle of quite 60 degrees on some occasions ; he finished his flight of a quarter of an hour's duration by shutting off his engine while over the sheds and vol planing to the ground. Martin made a sensational start for Brooklands ; he got off the ground at a terrific speed, and while scarcely 10 ft. from the ground made an extremely sharp left-hand turn, and doubled back in the direction of Brook lands. An idea of his smartness may be gathered from the fact that only 34 sees, elapsed from the time he rose in the air to the time he left the boundaries of the aerodrome. As soon as Martin had got out of sight, Grahame-White, with Ridley-Prentice in the passenger seat, made a good flight of 10 minutes' duration, each taking the lever alternately. Lessons were then given by Hubert to Messrs. Turner and Raglus. The excitement rose high as to the probability of competitors arriving from Brooklands at the aerodrome, so Mr. Grahame-White, with Master Stanley Guy Lewin, set off in that direction to ascertain if any were on their way. Returning, he made a wide circle over Cricklcwood at a height of 1,000 feet ; and on reaching the aerodrome landed with a superb vol plant. It was thoroughly amusing to see the youngster waving his arms frantically, and shouting with sheer glee, as Mr. Grahame-White brought the machine carefully to earth. More passenger flights were given by Mr. Hubert on the Gnome-Farman, and then Martin, by way of experiment, took up as passenger the head mechanic on the " New Baby " machine. She rose well and Martin proceeded to fly figures of eight, descending at the end 0 a ten minute flight. At this stage we had news over the 'phone that Greswell had evidently lost his way, and fearing to run short of petrol, had descended at Ashford in Middlesex. Mechanics were at once sent off on cars to assist him. Meanwhile Turner, the pupil, who had never yet taken control of a machine himself, was making good straight flights on the school Farman, landing in quite excellent style. Ridley-Prentice then made straight flights on the HENDON-BROOKLANDS-HENDON.—Mr. Martin, on the Grahame-White " New Baby" racer, was one of those who, on Saturday, made fine flights for this competition. In the left-hand photo Martin is just starting away from Hendon Aerodrome. An idea of the rapidity of the "get-off can be gathered by the fact that although he only started from the spectators in the background, the tail is well up, and the ailerons are flying right out. Only 34 sees, elapsed before the right-hand photo was secured, and in this time Martin had to make a complete turn and double back on his original direction. 225
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