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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 0447.PDF
MAY 18, 1912. THE BROOKLA ONCE again it is our sorrowful duty to record the passing of one of the most popular and one of the hardest working pilots in the British industry—Mr. E. V. B. Fisher, who, late on Monday afternoon last, was killed at the Brooklands aerodrome. The event is doubly painful, for the passenger that he was carrying at the time, Mr. Victor Mason, an American gentleman, shared the same fate. Quite a lot of flying had taken place at the aerodrome during the afternoon, for from 3 o'clock onwards the weather had been almost ideal. Sabelli had been flying on the Deperdussin, Hotchkiss on the Bristol, Lieut. Parke and Wheeler on the Avro biplane, Sopwith and Moorhouse on their Bleriots. Poor Fisher, too, had been in the air previously, both solos and with Mr. Dukinfield Jones as passenger. Mr. W. O. Manning had also been practising on the ill-fated monoplane. Mr. Victor Mason was Fisher's second passenger that afternoon. He had come down to the aerodrome in company with Commander Samson and Lieut. Porte to witness the flying, for he was keenly interested in the sport. Already he had flown as passenger with Mr. Lewis Turner in a biplane at Hendon, and he had wished similarly to experience a trip on a monoplane. Fisher himself had suffered a cycling accident some time previously and hurt his left arm to such an extent that he did not attempt to fly for over a week after the accident. At the time of his accident he was flying with his elbow strapped loosely to his waist, so that he could not strain it by lifting it too high. But he said that, although his left arm was limited in its free movement, it did not greatly incon venience him in piloting. He had made two circuits with Mr. Mason when, after turning above the paddock on his return to the sheds, he was seen to bank rather heavily to the left, to side-slip, and then to dive nose downwards to the ground. A short delay, and flames burst upwards from the wreckage, the petrol tank having been burst open by the force of the impact, the aeroplane, which was completely wrecked, being utterly consumed. Sopwith on his Bleriot was the first to arrive at the scene of the accident. He had just rounded the sheds when the accident occurred, and without delay he restarted and was able to fly over to the wreck. The unfortunate pilot had been thrown clear of the machine, fully 30 to 40 ft. away, but Mr. Mason had remained in the machine. Both must have been instantly killed. E. V. B. Fisher.—A Retrospect, On Monday, May 13th, Brooklands lost one of its first and most popular workers. Fisher was first actively associated with aviation in the early part of 1909 when a short hop in an aeroplane was some thing to be marvelled at. Even in these early days he showed an aptitude and a knowledge of matters aeronautic, which was then considerably in advance of the times, when at Lea Marshes he assisted in the construction of what was the first All-British machine to fly. During the remaining part of 1909 he was closely connected with the further experiments of Mr. A. V. Roe and with him attended the meeting at Blackpool, where the first serious flying in this country was to be seen. To the first shed to be erected at Brooklands Fisher came in January, i9io,and with Howard Flanders worked at the construction, and carried out the trials of a small and original monoplane locally known as " The Pup." From then until he took his certificate on May 2nd, 1911, he was engaged in constructional work which has since proved to be of great value. He took his brevet at the Hanriot School at Brooklands, with whom he remained for the following six months as instructor, and passed many pupils who now rank among our best known pilots. In October of the same year he met with a serious mishap while making the first passenger trials with the Vickers monoplane. Shortly after his complete recovery from this accident he renewed his connection with his friend Howard Flanders by becoming pilot and instructor to the firm bearing that name. But not only was Fisher a pilot of the very first order. His thorough knowledge of the theory and of the practical aspect of construction, his surprisingly wide range of useful and exact know ledge together with his unfailing willingness to place such knowledge at the disposal of anyone in difficulties rendered him one of the most invaluable members of the Brooklands community. To Fisher Brooklands owes in a large measure its success as a centre of aviation. As secretary of the original Shed Holders' Committee and more recently as organiser of the Brooklands Aero Club we all owe much to his untiring energy. Add to this his cheery good nature and keen sense of humour and it will be readily under stood how Brooklands mourns its best friend and British Aviation one of its finest workers. Mr. Victor Mason. Everyone will doubly deplore the calamity which also cost Mr. Mason his life. A very human tribute has been given by [/JJGHT] DS CALAMITY. Mr. Richard Northcott a friend of the deceased, which appeared in the Daily Telegraph as follows :— " On Sunday Mr. Mason told me that he was looking forward to * a ride in the air ' at Brooklands the following day, adding ' it will be my last, because I have so much to clear up.' He was then referring to the completion of the great financial scheme which had occupied him in Europe for many months. He had secured in London and Paris guarantees of capital to the amount of nearly three millions for the construction of a railway in Carolina, and this week the final details were to have been settled. On Sunday he was very happy over his success, and particularly as it meant his early return to his wife and children. Mr. Mason originally met me through a letter of introduction which he presented from Mr. H. J. Ketcham, the American representative of the Great Eastern Railway. " He was fond of telling his early political experiences as private secretary to various Ministers under Mr. Roosevelt, and not the least interesting story he told was that associated with a spacious room he occupied in one of the official buildings in Washington. Here he discovered a safe that had not been opened for years. He had it opened, and in it he found the woman's apparel in which one of the generals tried to escape through the lines during the war, and also the spur which he had neglected to remove from his left boot, and which gave him away when he was nearly out of reach of his enemies. I forget the name of the general, but the story will be familiar to Americans. "Poor Mason had previously been in an aeroplane at Hendon, and was quite fascinated with the easy motion. " I see he has been described as a millionaire. I know he would have objected to this designation. He was well-to-do, and lived at the Carlton, but that does not make him a millionaire. He was a typical fine American, a gentleman who never bragged, a man who was ideal company." THE ACCIDENT. So far as we are able to ascertain,ithe cause of this terrible fatality was a side-slip in the air brought about by an attempt to turn sharply while the machine was perhaps slightly cabri. That is to say it is suggested that Mr. Fisher sought to turn while the tail of his machine was slightly lower than the head. The turning manoeuvre is a source of increased resistance to flight and as such would still further tend to adversely effect the attitude of the machine, but apparently the critical i>oint was over-reached and the machine seemed to have slipped away downwards and sideways, the beginning of a head-first fall. Once before, we understand, has this happened to Mr. Fisher who was, however, on that occasion able to recover by steering the machine into line with its accidentally oblique direction of motion. On the fatal occasion, however, he lost control, and may in fact have been pitched against the control lever, thus exaggerating the diving attitude of his machine at the moment when it most needed to be diminished. From the fact that Mr. Fisher was thrown out of the machine while still some 70 feet in the air, it would seem probable that the tail must have swung up vertically into the air and jerked him out of his seat. Nothing, however, could well have saved them at this point, for the machine was virtually making a sheer drop from a height of perhaps 150 feet and the velocity must have been terrific. It is, of course, a case that will naturally come before the R.Ae.C. Accidents Committee for investigation, and pending their inquiry, which is sure to elicit any helpful information that may be forth coming from this sad affair, we must be content to draw the veil, and meantime offer an expression of our deepest sympathy to the relatives and friends of those whose lives have been lost but whose names henceforth will be numbered on such an honoured roll. ® ® ® ® Fatalities in Germany and Italy. ON the 12th inst. a fatal accident occurred at Cassel, Schmigal- ski an aviator from Berlin, falling from a height of 100 metres through the capsizing of his machine in attempting a high flight. His injuries were so serious that he died in a few minutes. On the previous Friday an Italian officer at the Military Aviation School at Pordenone met with his death in an accident caused by a too sudden landing. Flying in Morocco. ACCORDING to a telegram from Casablanca, three French officers on the 10th inst. flew from that place to Rabat. Capt. Clavenad also started, but was brought down by engine trouble at Wadi Kern. The officers propose to continue their journey to Fez. 447
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