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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0486.PDF
(/OGHT MAY IO, 1913. TO THE, SUNNY SOUTH. THE RAINEY SUNSHINE Company's pression, rUCMT? AFTER WORK REST A WHILE.-On the right Mr. Fowler; left Mr. Rainey. " I WANT you to go to Eastbourne to-morrow, and report on the East bourne Aviation ground. I b eli eve there is quite a lot going on there." Thus the chief to me. It was raining in London when I set off the next morn ing, but in journalism when you are told to go, you go. I went down in a carriage designated " 1st compo." I can quite believe it. Half way down the sun came out, and I began to feel better. The first thing I noticed was that the taxis down there charge one shilling a mile, but the driver was very polite, and it was worth it. I found out afterwards that the aerodrome people are good friends to them. As illustration : One of the pupils had the misfortune to cut his hand rather badly on the broken window of a taxi in which he was riding at night, and it was necessary to find a doctor. Most people would have claimed damages, but they don't do that at Eastbourne—oh no ! Whilst the hand was being dressed, the taxi stood outside and ticked up sixteen shillings, which was paid. Taxi drivers like the aerodrome people. So would you. On arriving, I found quite a little colony fitted up in every way that is nice. Since pupils were first started about July of last year, some fourteen or sixteen have taken their brevets, whilst there are at the present time six or eight learning, and a more jolly set of fellows I have never met. I don't know if it is the air down there, but it seems impossible not to be full of good spirits. But the "sun" at Eastbourne round which all the other planets revolve is, without a doubt, Rainey. If anybody could be in the company of Mr. Rainey for ten minutes with out feeling it is good to be alive, )ie must be in a bad way. He is a sailor, and his initials are T. A., and when you add the R. for the surname you haveT.A.R., which he is,every inch of him— just the sort of "tar"that would fight a ship through anything at any odds, and laugh in the face of the gale. He has only been at few weeks, and, to use he has had " a 11 II i rf . Bj A good motto (or an aviation school. Eastbourne a his own ex- —well a real good time. When I tell you that on his secondday he made two flights in the Bristol quite alone, you will know him better. He's jutt the sort of "sport" that would tumble in "any old how" and do something really wonderful for a beginner, tumbling out smiling as ever, and saying " There you are, Sonny, that's the way to make the old 'bus stand still while you have a look round ; gee, that WAS all right." He is absolutely irrepressible. The history of his first flights I got from Mr. Fowler, chief instructor, they are worth recording. " The first evening I took him up for two flights behind me, and he seemed to take to it like a duck to water. Next day I took him up again for a couple of flights, and explained the controls to him. On the same afternoon I gave him five or six flights in the pilot's seat, he having the control of the machine, with, of course, myself ready to take it if necessary. He made perfect landings each time, and I could see he was all right, so I let him take the machine up by himself. "He flew a couple of circuits, and prepared to land, but suddenly found he was too high, so he did a tremendous vol plane (not so bad for a one-day pupil), and landed all right, but I thought he would run into the fence through overshooting the mark. He stopped, by a bit of luck, just a few feet short. I told him to leave vol plane's alone for a bit, and not try too much, and explained to him that he must keep lower when about to land, and come down gently, and sent him up again to do it that way. " My last words to him when getting off were to keep lower, but he came back even higher than before. Sud denly it appeared to dawn on him that he was again too high, and acting on my instructions not to vol plane, he didn't know quite what to do, so he shut off while he thought it over. My heart stood still for a moment; but he switched on again, and went full-speed 508 Two of the sheds, showing the method of opening by pulleys.
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