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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0465.PDF
MAY 27, 1911. fij^ FROM THE BRITISH FLYING GROUNDS. Royal Aero Club Flying Ground, Eastchurch. THE aviators at Eastchurch received a pleasant surprise on Monday morning, when Mr. Alec Ogilvie was sighted over the grounds on his N.E.C.-engined Wright biplane. It appears he had started from Camber at 9 a.m., flying straight for Eastchurch, with the wind—what little there was of it—in his favour. When nearing Ashford (Kent) he thought his engine was not pulling quite so well as usual, and suspecting oil trouble, he decided to descend and make an examination, so as to be quite sure that every thing was well. Accordingly, he came down in a field near Ashford, affording most of the country folk their first view of an aeroplane in flight. The fault was of a trivial nature, due to an alteration in the position of the oil-tank, and did not take long to correct; still, half an hour had passed before he was again in the air. Rising quickly he again headed for Eastchurch, which he reached without further incident, appearing over the grounds at 10.30 a.m. When sighted at Eastchurch he was apparently at an altitude of 1,000 ft. From this elevation he descended in three spirals, and finally alighted close to his aeroplane shed. Mr. Ogilvie will be a welcome addition to the skilful band of aviators now at Eastchurch. He shows a perfect mastery over the Wright machine, with which, indeed, he has had considerable experience. Mr. Ogilvie carried with him a recording barograph which registered a maximum height of 1,500 ft. His independent speed throughout the journey was about 40 miles per hour. What is also particularly interesting is the behaviour of the all- British N.E.C. engine. During the past three weeks Mr. Ogilvie has been in the air not less than 60 hours, and during the whole of that time he has not attempted to overhaul the engine, thus fully bearing out the claim of the makers that with the N.E.C. engine you can fly for long periods of 10 or 12 hours day by day and never require to trouble about the engine—she just runs practically without attention. On Thursday, Naval Lieuts. Samson, Longmore, Gerrard, and Gregory were all out practising on the Short biplane, particular attention being paid to alighting at a given spot, and also to vol plant descents, many of which were made at good angles. For the rest of the week the weather was not at all suitable for flying, and the Naval officers put in a good deal of time at Messrs. Short Bros.' works, where some instructive work was carried out in trying the strengths of various materials on the test machines. On Sunday Professor Huntington was out on his machine, as also was Mr. Jezzi on the Jezzi biplane, but the weather was very un settled and threatening, and after about half-an-hour's practice both machines were taken in. Brooklands Aerodrome. Avro School.—Last week Pixton's win on the Avro in the Brooklands endurance competition on Wednesday was omitted in these notes. On Tuesday morning S. V. Sippe and Mr. Hunter were out on the Avro making short flights. In the afternoon Mr. C. H. Wigg, who is crippled through a cycle accident, was taken up as a pas senger, in spite of advice from his gardener " not to go up in them there things." He said he would like to stay up all day. On Thursday a new machine arrived from Messrs. A. V. Roe and Co.'s Manchester works, constructed to the order of Mr. Wakefield. It is of the Curtiss type, and designed to start from water as well as on land, and is fitted with a 50-h.p. Gnome. The first trials, which will not be made with the floats, only with the wheels, should take place in about ten days. The first tests on water are to be made in the north of England. Pixton went for the Manville competition again on Saturday. In the morning the wind was over 30 m.p.h. About 2 o'clock it was only over 20 m.p.h. now and again, and so Pixton went off with Lieut. Parke as passenger. After about 5 minutes a water connection gave out, which caused considerable delay, a start not being made again until 20 minutes to 5, when the wind was still blowing in sharp gusts. However, Pixton kept up for over 40 minutes, with Lieut. Parke as passenger, hardly moving against the wind, whilst with the wind he travelled at a good pace. Pixton landed a few minutes before 5.30, at which time the competition closes. Conway Jenkins then took up a passenger for a flight. The Avro was the only machine to fly at Brooklands on Saturday. Lieuts. Watkins and Parke, also Raynham and Pixton, were carrying passengers on the Avro-Farman on Sunday afternoon. Hanriot School.—Sunday last saw the Hanriot monoplane out . again for the first time since its recent smash. Mr. Fisher took it out for a short spin to see if everything was properly adjusted, rising very quickly, the 50-h.p. Clerget engine pulling magnificently. Work commenced early next morning, three pupils putting in some useful practice. Mr. Bell, who had been out once previously, and Mr. Tack Humphreys, who had two lessons to his credit, were both making straight flights, while Lieut. Manisty received his first lesson in rolling. In the evening Mr. Fisher flew for 25 minutes in a puffy wind to see how the engine was running, rising about 400 ft., the machine showing great steadiness. Later Mr. Bell made a few straight flights, but found the wind troublesome. On Tuesday morning the machine was again out, under the control of various pupils, till the wind got up, compelling operations to be suspended for the day. Hewlett and Blondeau School.—Mr. Snowden-Smith flew to Surbiton twice during last week on his Blondeau-built Farman, and during the last fortnight the Hewlett and Blondeau School has been very busy doing more or less continuous passenger flights. During this period three more pupils have joined the school. Every morning and evening that is possible for teaching purposes one or other of their machines is out. On Sunday last Mr. Snowden-Smith flew over to Lady North- cliffe's garden party. He started with Mrs. Hewlett as passenger on his all-British Farman, built by Mr. Blondeau; he carried oil and petrol for nearly 200 miles, but found he did not rise as quickly as he liked with this weight. Flying at about 400 ft., when four miles in the direction of Guildford he decided to return to the track, and then re-started alone. He landed exactly on the sheet spread- The Valkyrie Military Monoplane, high - flying and In gliding flight at Hendon. In the top photograph she is at a height of 2,000 ft., in the middle picture she is descending, and below, the pilot is completing a spiral vol plane. 467
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