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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0740.PDF
I/O GHT AUGUST 26, 1911. FROM THE BRITISH FLYING GROUNDS. Royal Aero Club Flying Ground, Eastchurch. THERE was some good flying at Eastchurch during last week, including two record flights by Lieuts. Samson and Gerrard. The first record fell to Lieut. Gerrard, who, on Thursday, the 17th inst., made a world's passenger carrying record with a flight of 4 hrs. 13 mins. The passenger was Lieut. Wildman-Lushington, R. M. A., and the machine used was the Short biplane No. 34, one of the machines loaned by Mr. McClean for the use of the Navy. The course made was between H.M.S. "Actaeon" lying off Sheerness, and the Leysdown Coastguard Station, points which are 10 miles apart. The official observers were Lieut. A. W. McDonald and Mr. A. Hook on board the " Actaeon " and the Hon. Maurice Egerton and Lieut. Gregory at the Leysdown Station. Lieut. Gerrard and his passenger got away promptly at 3.30 p.m. carrying on board 28 galls, of petrol and 13 galls, of oil. Rising rapidly into the air Lieut. Gerrard continued to climb until he had attained a height of 1,000 ft., at which altitude he considered he had sufficient fall toenablehim topickagood landing placein case of an enforced descent. For practically 4J hours the two aviators continued up aloft, Lieut. Gerrard handling the machine with that mastery which he has shown from his first lesson at Eastchurch, keeping the machine at a good angle and never allowing it to fluctuate from the altitude he had determined upon. At a quarter to eight he had still a good supply of petrol left, but as it was rapidly growing dusk, another lap of the twenty miles course was out of the question. Lieut. Gerrard there fore decided to descend, which he did with a neat vol plane, being greeted on landing with a ringing cheer from the bystanders, which was well deserved, considering that he had nearly doubled the time of the previous British record. Friday was altogether a bad day for aviation owing to extremely unsteady air currents, which came up in strong puffy gusts from the south-west. At a quarter to three Lieut. Samson started up, but find ing things too "bumpy" to be pleasant he returned to earth after a few laps of the aerodrome. An hour or so later Mr. Alec Ogilvie was out on his medium sized Wright machine. The weather conditions had, however, not improved, and he also was content with a few laps round the aerodrome, after which he landed very neatly at the door of his shed. No further flying was attempted that day. HHHHM1 On Saturday morning Lieuts. Samson, Gerrard, Longmore and Gregory were out early putting in their usual practice flights. At 4.50 a.m. Lieut. Samson, carrying one passenger, on the Short No. 38, made a long tour of the island, returning at 6 a.m., having been up one hour and ten minutes. He was so pleased with the way the machine was flying that he expressed his intention of trying, without a passenger, for the British duration record, and he started away again immediately, getting into the air at 6.7 a.m. For the next hour the weather conditions were fairly good, but at 7.30 a change for the worse set in, the sky becoming overcast with stormy clouds, and a strong ground wind springing up. The indefatigable Samson had no intention, however, of coming down, and continued to fly with almost monotonous regularity to and fro above the aero drome. By 10 a.m. the air conditions had become still worse, and the sun breaking through the clouds in patches appeared to cause upward and downward trends in which the aeroplane rose and fell vertically, but, by the skill of the aviator, was kept constantly on an even keel. Shortly after TO o'clock the observers on the ground heard a voice coming from the aeroplane each time it passed overhead, but owing to the roar of the engine they could not make out what the aviator was shouting. Someone suggested that he was merely singing as he worked away at the elevator, but at last, by the aid of an ear trumpet, the words were caught. It appears that the aviator's watch had stopped, and he wanted to know the time. A blackboard was at once secured from the lecture room, and on this the time was chalked every five minutes, so that the aviator was kept well informed of his progress. Shortly after 11.15a.m. Lieut. Samson descended, having been in the air 4 hrs. 58J mins., thus creating a new British duration record with a fine flight under difficult con ditions. Lieut. Samson was not at all tired, although he had been flying almost continuously for over six hours. He had also plenty of petrol and oil left, but the treacherous air currents made a con tinuance of the flight inadvisable. Brighton Shoreham Aerodrome. MESSRS. COLLYER AND CO.'S partly constructed tractor biplane arrived here on Tuesday night, the nth inst., and is fast nearing completion. Trials will be carried out in the course of the next few Lieut. Samson, R.N., making his British duration record of nearly five hours on a Short biplane at Eastchurch Aero drome last Saturday. At the top he is seen making a good turn; below, Mr. Travers is seen chalking on a board the tims Lieut. Samson had been in the air, this being rendered necessary by reason of the aviator's watch having stopped, a fact which he communicated to the observers by shouting from his aeroplane. On the right Lieut. Samson is seen in the act of dismounting after his splendid flight. 742
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