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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0322.PDF
i/om APRIL 13, 1912. HENDON AVIATION MEETINGS. The Inauguration. ALTHOUGH the elements were at their worst possible behaviour during the Easter vacation, and although, naturally, the amount of flying at the first London Aerodrome meeting suffered considerably, it would be unfair to term the event other than a success. For what flying took place during these four days was of the highest possible order. It was a glaring example of the sheer cussedness of things that Sunday, which was set apart solely for exhibition flights, should be so eminently suitable for flying, while the weather on the other three days, on which should have taken place the competitions which formed the essence of the meeting, was so antagonistic. Seemingly, for the first time on record, the spectators appeared to have some understanding of the difficulties besetting flight under unfavourable conditions, for although blank intervals were fairly frequent, they did not express their impatience, and left the ground undoubtedly satisfied that everything possible had been done to pro vide them with their money's worth of amusement. That the meeting was successful from the promoters' point of view goes without saying, for a throng of 15,000 paid for admission on the Friday, 13,000 on the Saturday, 8,000 on Sunday, and again 8,000 on Easter Mon day. The number of people in the neigh bourhood of the aero drome on this last day of the meet rather re minded one of the conditions at the start of the Daily Mail circuit from Hendon last summer, and it was clear that had the wind entered into the holiday spirit and exerted itself to a considerably less degree, there would have been a record gate. Considering that the public were warned by megaphone and by big placards, that owing to the unfavourable conditions flying could certainly not be guaran teed, the attendance of 8,000 on the last day of the meeting was, to say the least of it, com forting. And they were certainly not disap pointed, for they were treated to a feat that scarcely any other pilot than Grahame-White would attempt, that of flying a Farman biplane with two passengers up in a most unsteady wind, fluctuating from 35 to 50 miles per hour. One cannot but admire Grahame-White all the more for his deter mination, when he asserted on Sunday that, wind or no wind, he would fly the following day. He kept to his promise even though he suffered to the extent of slightly spraining his ankle, and of sacrificing an old Farman biplane that, before it was rebuilt after his return from his first visit to the States, had served him in his countless exhibitions since the Wolverhampton meeting of 1910. As a result of the unfavourable weather, although flying was provided on each day of the meet, only one competition out of the nine on the programme was contested, that of the altitude contest on the first day by Mr. Gustav Hamel. Even in this single com petition there was only one entry, but so splendid a flight did Mr. A fine piece of steering round a mark tower, at 67 miles per hour, Mr. Grahame-White on his Nieuport monoplane. Hamel put up that undoubtedly the judges will waive the conditions relating to the validity of the tests owing to the lack of starters and award Mr. Hamel the prize for that event. It is understood that the remainder of the competitions will be competed for at a second meeting which it is hoped will take place within the next month at Hendon. Good Friday, April 5th. A wind registering anything between 20 and 30 miles an hour on the aerodrome anemometer, an instrument which seems to estimate the wind at about 70 per cent, of its true velocity, did not augur well for much flying. However, at about half-past three, Grahame- White brought out a Farman-type biplane that had just been completed in his works, and flew along the front of the enclosures. The state of the wind, and the difficulty of keeping good control over the machine with the ailerons of the Curtiss - type, with which this biplane is fitted, did not make things any too happy for him. He did not remain out with that machine long, for he returned to the hangar and changed it for one of his old Farmans with ordinary ailerons, on which he flew twice round the ground, re ceiving an unusual amount of buffeting while he was in the air, and quite a lot of cheer ing when he landed in the space between the half-crown and the is. 6d. enclosures. During the interval that elapsed the crowd were kept amused by a succession of daylight fireworks that the man agement had wisely arranged for in view of the possibility of the weather being against flying. Within half an hour it was announced by megaphone from the judges' stand that Hamel would make an exhibition flight on the Bl^riot. Starting up into the wind, he quickly rose to about 500 ft. Against the wind he scarcely seemed to be moving at all, and when he turned down wind he could not have been doing much less than 95. miles an hour. Rocking considerably, he flew a couple of circuits, mostly outside the aero drome, then rushing down wind to the Golders Green end of the ground, made a startling left-hand turn with terrific banking and descended in an almost vertical voi piqui. For some few moments ap prehension was rife as to whether he still had control over the machine, and great was the relief when he flattened the mono plane out and landed. His coming to earth was a signal for renewed applause. Another interval followed of about an hour, during which the wind did not abate in the slightest. Shortly before tea Lewis Turner flew the Farman round for one circuit. He was tossed about in a manner rather fearsome to watch, but, all credit to him, he stuck to his job and brought the machine safely to land none the worse for the horrible buffeting he had received. Later 01* in the evening Hamel, on Sopwith's ^o-h.p. two-seater Gnome- 322
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