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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0717.PDF
JULY 5, 1913. see that procession very badly, and so apparently did some thousands of others, who lined the streets all the way from Marble Arch to past the Crown at Cricklewood, and stood there till well past noon, but that procession, as a procession, did not mature. Certainly I did see one or two cars fly past at intervals of, perhaps, half an hour, but most of the exhibitors, after parading for entente cordiale purposes, went home to lunch, and came on to the aerodrome at their convenience later in the day. Where prizes are given in a competition of this descrip tion, and the event is advertised as part of the day's proceedings, for which people were asked to pay extra admission fees, it should have been made part of the contract that competing cars must form part of the procession and go to Hendon with the others, and at the time arranged. The cars were only one side of the business; on the other there were the people who paid up to ten shillings and got there at ten in the morning prepared to enjoy themselves, and found nothing doing. The wind was not kind on Wednesday, and prevented air races and anything of that kind being held ; all the more reason why the powers that be should have strained every sinew to have seen that all else was done to amuse the people. To be asked to give ten shillings to charity is one thing, and to sit in an aerodrome and see nothing for hours on end, is quite another. The people who visit Hendon seem to me quite the most patient in the whole world, but there is sometimes to be seen by a keen observer, a sort of shifting uneasiness, as though they had had just about enough of it, which does not help to popularise flying as a spectacular performance. But to get back to our programme. Page eleven says :--" Noon to 12.30. Arrival of procession of motor cars." They did not arrive, at least not in the way intended allowing that this was outside the London Aerodrome, it next says: Judging of decorated aeroplanes." see it. I saw one poor little plane out there all by itself, looking very lonely in its gaudy display of flowers as it timidly faced the spectators, and for the life of me I could not help thinking of a late homecomer from a fancy dress ball, surprised by daylight. Later it was joined by first one and then another of its fellow-sufferers, till there were quite four or five of them all told. There may have been judging, I did not see it, in any case it would not take long or cause much excitement. The speed handicap and the team race, could not of course take place owing to the wind. Somewhere about six o'clock, the decorated cars (which had somehow managed to arrive one at a time in the meantime) lurched up past the far enclosures, like a flotilla of torpedo boats in a storm. And I think this was about all those at that end saw for their money. The battle of flowers took place round number one pylon, and nobody was struck, either by a flower or the extravagance of the display. The one bright incident during the day was the arrival of Slack from Paris in a gale of wind, but this was an extra, and not on the programme of events. In justification I must say that Mr. Gates and Captain Tyrer worked like Trojans, but it seemed to me there was a fearful want of organisation, and that with the material at hand much better could have been made of it. The procession of Motor Cars along Edgware Road, should undoubtedly have taken place. It was advertised to do so and people expected to see it. Besides which, it would have gone far towards drawing people to the aerodrome who had not thought previously of going, when they saw there was something 743 r/UGHTj but, jurisdiction of the " 12.30 to 1 p.m. Honestly, I didn't toward. The people in the far enclosures paid their money to see something, even as those in the better parts. Their idea of decorated aeroplanes was not, I am sure, that of two or three machines drawn up opposite the committee enclosure half a mile away. They wanted to see them for themselves, and they should have been taxied up in procession so that all might see. The Battle of Flowers was a good idea. And here is just a little point on which I am not quite sure—I suppose those who wanted to take part in this fun would be expected to supply their own flowers. It was hardly to be expected that the aerodrome people could supply flowers to all and sundry. But here is the point—this Battle of Flowers was one of the things that visitors were asked to pay an extra admission fee to see, and they had every right to see it. Well, practically speaking, there were no flowers. Very few, I think, brought flowers with them, and although there was a good show of them for sale out near the pylon hardly anybody seemed to buy them, though I saw many inquiries, and I can only suppose that the price was prohibitive, though I do not know. When visitors come four and five at a time in cars it means a goodly sum in admission fees, and a few pounds spent in flowers and distributed round the cars would have created a good feeling and have allowed the battle to have really taken place. Honestly, I do not think the majority of people saw much, and I am afraid many were not satisfied. Popu larity requires great efforts to attain, and having been attained requires even more to sustain. It is very unstable, and, failing great care, slides almost imper ceptibly away. I am really sorry. It would be a thousand pities, not to say a calamity. " Flight" Copyright. AT HENDON AERGDROME.-Reynolds, the popular timekeeper, takes the cake—and tea—across to another co worker between the racing.
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