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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0802.PDF
1/tiGHTl JULY 26, 1913. ARMCHAIR REFLECTIONS. By THE DREAMER. flying business, andan ex-journalist as First Lord of the How I Saved £500,000. FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND of "the best" is a lot of money even for me, yet this is the sum I had THOUGHT of spending, No, I am not a millionaire, and I did not start life as Prime Minister at nothing a year with a ^5,000 job thrown in as a side line. I have simply had to proceed strictly on copy-book lines, which, in addition to teaching me how to write—up strokes thin, down strokes thick (I think one's future efforts in life are generally founded on this basis, but this by the way)— also taught me many good proverbs, one of which was " A friend in need is a friend indeed." England wanted a friend, and I, ever ready at the call of duty, was about to fill the bill. And on what had I thought to spend this money on ?—a lamp—a sojry-looking thing of tin and horn that looks worth about 3*. 6d., but which is said to be in good working order. I know there are plenty of lamps to be had for far less than this huge sum, but this is not an ordinary lamp, as you may guess. It hangs, or did hang in the window of a curio dealer's shop in a Surrey town, and is, or was labelled " Aladdin's lamp, in good working order, price ,£500,000." I know you will all have thought I could not have raised that amount of money; but I" could; it is dead easy if you go the right way to work. I should simply have made out a cheque for the amount and have handed it over to the dealer, and then, holding the lamp in my hand have said—very quietly so as not to break the spell—" I wish he may get the money," there you are— perfectly simple, simply perfect. If I had bought that lamp, I was going to wish all sorts of things on behalf of the present Government, and the aerial defence of this country, but now they are introducing an aerial department at the War Office with Brigadier-General Henderson—a real live pilot—at the head, it is not necessary. General Henderson in addition to being a pilot, is a soldier, with all, I hope, a soldier's way of speaking out, and I hope he will speak out now, and damn the consequences. What we want to know is how we stand. We have had quite enough tom foolery just lately to last for generations. It is not yet too late to pull things together and get our ship safely into port providing we have the right man at the helm. Only a year or two ago France was supposed to be decadent beyond the possibility of recovery, to-day France is beating us hands down because she found the right men. Briand-Poincare, that's the password. Germany is coming along gently; I see they are going to increase their navy—Germany is all right. France has get aeroplanes—we are supposed to know- how many. Germany has got aeroplanes, we are supposed to know how many. England has got aeroplanes—we are not supposed to know how many—but both France and Germany could tell us without going round to count them if they would. Looking at things as we are expected to look at them—from the outside—what have we got to grumble about? We've got plenty of aeroplanes—haven't they told you so ? Look how we are going ahead. Look at the air squadrons we are establishing. Look at the aerial coast-defence stations we are forming. Haven't we got airships capable of flying round St. Paul's? Aren't there a number of manufacturers, only waiting for war to break out, to start building machines? Haven't we got (at the moment of uralty ? Isn't England at the present moment in the very pink of condition ? Bah ! your grumbling makes me feel sick. Well, let's wait and see—we are good at that anyhow. . In the Daily Mail for July 19th, I find this : " Colonel Seely's Boast. Colonel Seely, Secretary for War, speaking of the Royal Flying Corps at the Liverpool Reform Club yesterday, said it was a satire on civilisation and Christianity that the Christian nations of the world should carry engines of war not only under the sea but in the air. It was madness to continue this competition, but as a great man, Mr. Lloyd George, had said they could not afford to be left behind in the race, however unwise. ' We are not, and will not, be left behind,' said Colonel Seely with confidence. ' Owing to the remarkable adapt ability of British officers and men, there are to-day no fewer than 174 qualified pilots, while at this time last year there were but 14. This marvellous advance shows that we have the power to hold our own in the air as we have done before on land and sea.'" Was ever such perfectly beautiful nothingness so elo quently wrapped up in verbose verisimilitude, even by a Cabinet minister, before ? The Round Britain Race. As the time for the start of the Round Britain race draws near, I am given to wondering what the result will be; whether any one of the four pilots who have entered will get through within the time. It is possible, of course, that one or even more may do so, but it is to be a great fight and the adventures are likely to be many and varied. Flying has progressed considerably since the last circuit of Britain, and taking into consideration the long distance flights now made almost weekly, it would hardly be safe to prophesy entire failure. However, to take an aeroplane round the coast of England and Scotland with a call at Ireland is no child's play, and should luck be against our brave pilots and they fail to complete the course in the time allowed, or even do not get round at all, they will yet have done an infinite amount of good to aviation. The mere fact that they have entered at all, and that they have faith in the machines they fly to accomplish such a journey is most praiseworthy, especially when it is borne in mind that at least three out of the four are flying machines of their own design and construction, and the fourth,. although he cannot quite be bracketed in these conditions, has a very high place in the realms of aviation. The more so, that he is an amateur enthusiast first and last. Given suitable weather I should not be greatly surprised, and should be immensely pleased, to hear that all four had completed the course. Should any one of them manage it in the stipulated time, aviation, including the building of English engines, should receive a fillip the value of which is almost incalculable. Messrs. McClean-Cody- Sopwith-Radley, here's good luck to you, your pluck is appreciated in the whole world of aviation. A Balloon Record Passed. AT a meeting of the Ae.C.F. Commission Sportive last week, official recognition was given to the French balloon height record of 10,108 metres, made by M. Bienaime on May 28th. The Com- misswn also confirmed the award of the Ae.C.F. Balloon Grand Prix to Alfred Leblanc, with the second, third and fourth prizes to writing) a War Secretary who can't fly controlling the respectivelyRumpelmayer' Louis Pierron and Maurice Bourgeois 828
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