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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0668.PDF
IftlGhT THE IT is now almost a matter of ancient history—how " Beaumont" won the great Circuit of Britain race in the air, with Vedrines hard on his heels the whole way round. Much ink has been shed in illuminating the personalities of the two men, and in the glorification of their wonderful pluck and endurance, with the result that both of them are probably better known to the man in the street than many of those who direct the fortunes of empires. And of that we are exceeding glad. We do not belong to that class which is the main support of the weekly illustrated journals, which depend for their popularity on the glorification of the stage, and which have done much—too much—to propagate the unfortunate disease of "swelled head" among those who follow " the" profession in search of their daily bread. Therefore, we are dead against the modern disposition to lionise all and sundry, with or even without excuse ; but this race of the air is one of those occasions on which it is more than justifiable to make heroes of men. Not only is it justifiable from the point of view that here are men who have done something daring—something that was by most thought impossible, and something which needed the highest development of all those attributes of courage and skill, which have called forth the admiration of men since ever the world began—but we may go a little farther and say that it is even politic that things should have fallen out as they have happened. To add to the general acclamation of Lieut. Conneau's magnificent win, and Vedrines' equally splendid showing, would lead us into mere platitudes and plagiarism, for all has been said by ourselves and others that seems possible to be said. Therefore, the victor having received the spoils of war and been duly acclaimed, we may perhaps with profit pass on to a consideration of the more material aspects of the race and its result. We have said that all the lionising of the aviator is justifiable and politic—not that we have seen it argued to the contrary, but it is as well that it should be pointed out that this is no case of popular hero-worship, pure and simple. The first essential to the success of any new mcvementis thafcit should become a popular one. It is quite possible J*> conceive that had the Daily Mail and the journals associated with it not boomed the race in the way they did, hardly a shred of general interest would have been taken in the aviators and their doings. As it was, the whole kingdom went flying mad, to use the popular term, during the days when the interest of the race was at its height. Literally milliog&of people saw some part of the race and the great majipity of them saw aeroplanes for the first time in their lives. Thus flying was brought home to them in a tangible form. The thing of which they had read with merely passing interest as something unfamiliar, and even a little uncanny, was brought to their doors and they were made to realise that here was a new and material thing which had come into being, and whose real potentialities no man could with anything approaching certainty foretell. And with what intense and.„breathless interest the race was followed ! In the streets, in the clubs, in public conveyances, there was but the #ne^|ppic of conversation—the great race. It is no exaggeratiofeita say that though a great European war had broken out between Monday and Wednesday of last week it would Tra>fe had to take second place in the popular mind until tjlae first of the flyers had safely reached Brooklands. 2£J1 this of course is well enough in its way, but what we are concerned with is, will AUGUST 5, 1911. there be any permanent effect or will the impressions prove to be fleeting ? Most certainly the former. Indeed it is inconceivable that it should be otherwise, for the impression produced was far too deep and too general to be evanescent. For weeks before the race the Press of the country had been busy in raising expectation to its very tiptoe. By the time the race was due to begin, the man who had never in his life seen an actual aeroplane was familiar with the features of all those who were to take part; he knew the exact type of machine which each was to fly, and how to separate it from its fellows by the recognition of its main constructional details; and one heard on all hands discussion of the respective merits of this or that machine, con ducted with all the set gravity of the lecture room. All this cannot go for nothing. If it goes no farther, it must have driven home the main fact that a new era has arrived in which the last remaining element has been almost mastered by the genius of man, and have set the more thinking section of the people speculating very seriously upon its true significance. Therefore, the good the race has done for the movement itself must be absolutely incalculable—it simply cannot be reduced to expressions of words or figures. Apart from these general aspects of the race, there are other considerations of a more specific character which must not be lost to sight. It is simply platitudinous to say that, the reliability of the aeroplane has been proved by the result of the race. True, there is that lesson to be deduced from the performances of " Beaumont" and Vedrines, but on the other hand there is also the one taught by the number of failures that we still have a long way to go before we reach a state of even relative perfection. An analysis of the causes of failure shows that they may practically be summed up under the one heading of engine trouble. Pursuing the argument, we must arrive at the conclusion that, far as we have advanced in the direction of the light and reliable motor, we are still awaiting the advent of the one thing that will speedily make flight a com?nercial possibility. In a word, we are now in the case of the aeroplane motor where we stood ten years ago with the car engine. There remains another and extremely serious lesson of the race to be considered and that is the incontestable superiority manifested by the French flying men over our own. We do not for a single instant wish to be thought unpatriotic or wanting in sympathy with our own aviators, but we cannot refrain from saying that we almost view with something akin to satisfaction the absolutely decisive victory of the two Frenchrn0- There was nothing of the fluke in it—it was a triumph of superior skill and seriousness of purpose. Surely there is here the main lesson of the race so far as we who stand for the more serious side of the movement are concerned. Had the race been won by a British competitor we should have been apt to view the result with smug complacency and to have pointed to the victory as an evidence of the fact that we are abreast of our rivals. We appreciate that abroad the aviators have received in every way vastly more encouragement both material and moral, which has led to their great proficiency. But as things happened we were nevertheless too well and soundly beaten to leave room for any feeling but the one that if we really mean to achieve to our proper position our men will have to follow the example of the French, and treat it as a serious, scientific study. 670
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