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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0657.PDF
JULY 29, 1911. Vedrines nearly caught us all unprepared by appearing over the trees, lees than half a mile away, just as the local clocks had struck seven, his official arrival time being 7I1. 3m. 4s., and when his speed-rate was worked out upon his actual flight time from Hendon of 3h. 3m. 4s., as nearly as possible 60 miles per hour; and arm chair critics, who were very much in evidence at Harrogate, pre dicted all sorts of terrible happenings, and that the old fable of the hare and the tortoise would prove once again to be right : " Wait till the biplanes have reached Bristol, then the speed merchants will tell a vastly different tale !" Whilst the talk proceeded, and some of us pressmen settled ourselves as comfortably as was possible on the grass to write impressionist telegrams, a shriek of delight from some barefooted urchins behind made one or two of us glance casually skywards, without any expectation of seeing anything else than a flock of birds. Listlessness changed to wonder when we recog nised No. 1 beneath the planes, and " Beaumont," making a half circle on the edge of the aerodrome, came as lightly to earth as a scrap of paper at 7 mins. 45 sees, past 7 a.m. His elapsed flight time (net) was 3h. 7m. 30s., and thus early in the Circuit it was realised how bitterly must the fight proceed. Only 4 mins. 41 sees, between these two pilots over the couple of stages, from Brooklands to Harrogate, totalling 202 miles, a difference so comparatively small as to make the chances of both fairly equal. Vedrines' mechanics were pretty smart in replenishing, he occupying the essential oelay in a light meal of fruit, with a few thin slices of bread and butter. A careful testing of all the control wires, a preliminary run of the engine, and Vedrines was up on his way to Newcastle at 39 minutes past seven, the "rest" period occupying 35 mins. 15 sees. "Beaumont" took matters more comfortably, or rather, his movements were more akin to the phlegmatic Britisher's, for, although he apparently went about his machine examination and food replenishment in no hurried style, the official timekeeper's (Mr. A. V. Ebblewhite) figures proved him to have been but slightly longer, his departure at 47 minutes past seven showing his "resting " time to have been 39 mins. 15 sees. Consequently, Vedrines was 7 mins. 20 sees, ahead out of the Harrogate control. " Beaumont " must have travelled much faster than his opponent to Newcastle, because the net arrival times, which were telegraphed back to Harrogate, indicated that Vedrines was only leading by one minute. However, the latter stayed but 25 minutes before tackling the last stage of the day to Edinburgh, and the arrival times left Vedrines with a comfortable lead of some 18 minutes. The only exciting incident to relieve the weary monotony of tedious waits occurred when Valentine hove in sight, making as direct a compass line northwards as had the two leaders. " Beaumont " had just been timed away, to circle a big sweep southwards before picking up the true flight line, and simultaneously Valentine crossed at a right angle, at least 600 yards higher. Then he heeled over at a somewhat sharp angle, followed upon Vedrines'track, banked over again to nearly describe three parts of a circle in the other direction, and then planed downwards. Instead of striking the "alighting circle" at a right angle he retained his original direction, coming slick across the ground towards the little group of pressmen assembled outside the timekeeper's tent. For a few seconds we were facing the nearest call to a hospital the writer ever wants to experience. A fractional twist of the rudder lines saved the situation, although we momentarily shivered in dread of his charging the closely massed spectators in the north-west angle of the ground. His time from Hendon being 3I1. 29m. 28s., left him 36 mins. 24 sees, behind Vedrines. He was quite comfortable, but complained of several times losing his true direction, owing to the early morning mists that materially impeded progress all the way from Hendon to Ferry bridge. With the knowledge that nothing would be gained by hastening to Edinburgh, he waited 68 mins. 49 sees, before re-starting. Those 12-hour enforced losses between the various controls were one of the mystifying features of the contest to spectators and even to some of the officials, and it required all timekeeper Ebblewhite's oratory and explanatory calculations on paper to show enquirers what each aviator could and could not do. By carefully working out the distances and times on Vedrines' average speed of 60 m.p.h., he estimated that the leader could arrive back at Brooklands by 6.15 on Wednesday morning. (By the time these words are printed we shall learn how closely Mr. Ebblewhite approximated to the correct result.) Wonderful indeed was the patient and admirable behaviour of the terrific crowd assembled round the four sides of the aerodrome. The close proximity of big manufacturing towns, Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, &c, added a continuous procession of motor cars, motor cycles, push bicycles, motor char-a-bancs, and every possible form of wheeled conveyance, to the hundreds of similar vehicles that had come into Harrogate on Sunday. Many hundreds of people were on the ground before 5 a.m., and by 6 o'clock it was estimated that at least 150,000 people were assembled, whilst every minute up to about 10 a.m. brought thousands more. Except for the actual landing and getting away off the ground of competitors, those people outside the roped enclosures had just as good a view as the thousands who paid for admission. And the patience of that orderly crowd was extraordinary. After Valentine's arrival at 7.42 there was a wait of exactly two hours for Cody's cathedral at 9.42, and by a peculiar coincidence exactly two hours further elapsed before Hamel arrived at II.42. Thereafter nothing happened until Hamel departed for Newcastle in the afternoon at 7 minutes past 5, yet the crowds who had to stand for hour after hour in the bd. and is. enclosures held their positions beneath the broiling sun, and were content to hope that other competitors might arrive before darkness prevented any further sight of the men. Cody's principal trouble was due to using aluminium as the material for the oil sump below the engine crank-case, which split in several directions across the base. When Cody reached Harrogate he had only about two quarts of oil remaining, and another mile or two would have brought him down with a seized engine. Quite an interesting contrast was provided for some hours by Harrier's tiny racing Bleriot and Cody's monster biplane resting side by side ; one the very embodiment of grace and speed, whilst the other looked quite capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean as it literally towered above the midget machine. Just as interesting contrast was provided by the mechanics working simultaneously. The Frenchmen seemed to work each with four pairs of eyes and six pairs of hands in trying wires, adjustments, and replenishing. They overlooked nothing, and, if Hamel had desired, they were ready to send him away in less than 50 minutes after his arrival. Cody's men appeared to sit down aimlessly on the grass as though they had weeks in front for preparation, talked, found a bag of tools, took time to discuss whether one or the other should tackle this or that portion, and then ended by working together and interfering with each other at the same job. It is all very well to talk about the Britisher's reliable methods, but if we are to hold our own in the sport and industry, our own workmen must be taught the value of minutes, and to use their eyes as well as their hands. Hamel's exhaustion upon arrival at Harrogate was greatly exaggerated by the daily papers. His enforced descent at Melton Mowbray, to remedy what he supposed was a broken inlet-valve, must have been very exasperating, because he actually held a considerable lead here upon Vedrines and " Beaumont," who passed overhead some minutes after Hamel had landed. And this state ment we had from Hamel himself, and it can be accepted as correct. After pretty nearly pulling the engine all to pieces, with the aid of a friendly chauffeur who came up on a private car, Hamel discovered that the trouble was due entirely to sooted spark-plugs ; and when these were replaced, and sundry small adjustments made, Hamel again ascended, after losing over four hours at Melton. He knew to a minute how far ahead were his two principal opponents, and having to keep going when the sun was most powerful nearly at mid-day, it is not surprising that, what with the hard work, mental worry and intolerable heat, he jumped out hurriedly, and lay out flat beneath the machine to shelter from the sun. He made the most perfect and graceful descent of the day, so there could not have been much the matter with him. THE PROGRESS ROUND THE CIRCUIT. Monday. By the time Harrogate had been left behind by the leaders, other competitors were forming a long drawn-out line, with restings at various points along the route. Vedrines was first away from Harrogate at 7.39, and eight minutes later "Beaumont" followed him. Both flew practically without any incident to Newcastle, from whence Vedrines continued at twelve minutes past nine, again to be followed within thirteen minutes by " Beaumont." At Edinburgh a huge crowd had made its way to the military ground at Colinton, their ardour refusing to be damped by a rain-squall which passed over the ground a few minutes before Vedrines came in sight. Just before 11 o'clock a shout which went up from a hill in the neighbourhood of the landing place, told that an aeroplane was in sight, and half a minute before the hour struck Vedrines had landed practically in the centre of the great white cross laid on the ground to indicate the control. He was followed nineteen minutes later by " Beaumont " and then there was a long wait for Valentine, who was the only other one to complete the section that day. He had been delayed at Newcastle. On approaching the Tyneside city he mistook the Gosforth Golf Links for the control and experienced some difficulty in getting away again after landing, as the men who were eager to assist him thought he wanted his machine pushed off instead of held back. On arriving at the Newcastle control hunger asserted itself with such persistence that Valentine determined to rest awhile and replenish the inner man, getting away again at a quarter past two. The delay unfortunately .cost him a good deal, as the wind had freshened considerably, so that it took him 659
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