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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 0960.PDF
what is really meant by the term. If the exhaust pipe gets hot and burns the rubber connection of the water- jacket pipe, it is of course engine trouble, but not trouble with the engine proper. It must be remembered that longer exhaust pipes were fitted in order to better carry away the fumes, and no doubt this led to the trouble, a serious one on a flight like this, as Hawker once lost so much water that he had to descend and ® ® THE HUCKS- TREMENDOUS excitement was aroused in the Midlands by the race between Gustav Hamel and B. C. Hucks last Saturday, and the race turned out as exciting as it promised to be, for Ilamel only won by 20jf sees. Some little disappointment was occasioned by the fact that the two flyers were unable to use identical machines as had been originally intended. Hamel, however, took down an 80 h.p, Morane-Saulnier, but in consequence of the change in the conditions the stakes of .£500 a side were withdrawn, and in order to handicap his machine, which was faster than Hucks' Bleriot, Hamel carried his mechanic. Both aviators got away with a good start two seconds after half-past two from the Tally Ho grounds at Edgbaston, Birmingham, the crowd of about 30,000 giving them a very enthusiastic send-off. Hucks struck out a bee-line for the first control, Redditch, but Hamel was flying a little wide. He, how ever, arrived at Redditch in 9 mins. 28 sees., leading Hucks by 24 sees. The fair ground was very restricted, and both pilots had to indulge in some manoeuvring in order to get their machines down safely. Precisely at the end of the half-hour both machines got away in the order of their arrival. On this stage Hucks gained a useful lead of 2 mins. by being able to keep a more direct course than Hamel, and he arrived at Coventry just as Sydney Pickles had finished a second exhibition flight on his Bleriot, He was greeted with loud cheering, and before this had ceased Hamel was in sight and quickly made a perfect landing. During the 30 mins. wait, Pickles gave another exhibition flight, and then left for Birmingham. Immediately their time was up, Hucks and Hamel were away on the next stage to Nuneaton, a 10 mins. trip, at the end of which Hucks' lead had been reduced by half. The thick mist encountered made the going very difficult, but Mr. Hucks' careful study of the course helped him considerably, and he arrived at 4 hrs. 5 mins. 47 sees. The next control was at Drayton Manor, Tamworth, where Sir Robert Peel extended his hospitality to the flyers and their friends. At this point Hamel was leading by 55 sees., and after crossing the line landed in another field in the Manor grounds, as he feared the selected ground was too small for his speedy machine to land in. Hucks, however, made a splendid descent. This time the control was of 40 mins., a welcome oppor tunity for tea. At 5 hrs. 32 mins. 55 sees. Hamel crossed the line in flight, haying risen from his special landing-place and circled round. Within a minute Hucks had resumed the chase to Walsall, and he ® ® Fourny's Record for Michelln Cup. ALTHOUGH there is a very little actually to report in the way of facts concerning the record of Fourny for the International Michelin Cup, it does point in an extraordinary way to the progress which has been made in aviation. It will be recalled that in its early days this prize was awarded for the longest flight over a closed circuit over an aerodrome, but for last year the conditions were altered so that although the prize was still offered for the longest flight over a closed circuit, the course had to be round two posts at least 50 kiloms. apart. The competitors were allowed to stop so long as their average speed did not fall below a stipulated minimum. Last year the prize was not awarded ; but the first serious attempt was made a week or so back when Cavelier on a Deperdussin, in nine days flying, covered a total distance of 7,096-32 kiloms. On August 25th Fourny on a Maurice Farman set out to beat this record over the Etampes-Gidy course of a little over 100 kiloms. With unvarying monotony, and through wind, rain and mist, Fourny made seven rounds of the course each day, with an additional round on Monday, so that up to Tuesday evening he had covered 6,4768 kiloms. Guillaux Leads ln Pommery Cup Competition. AFTER careful checking of distances by a member of the French Army Geographical Staff, it has been found that the distance actually flown by Guillaux in his flight from Biarritz to Bracket, in Germany, was 1,3867 kiloms., which beats Brindejonc des Moulinais' record of 1,382*6 kiloms. from Paris to Warsaw. In order to make his position more certain Guillaux is now arranging to attempt to fly 12 hours without a stop, and starting from Paris fill up with sea water; but this is really a minor matter and soon remedied. Of the pilot, there is nothing to say, which is saying everything; and we have others like him, which is saying everything. The next attempt on this circuit will put up a grand show—we are learning, and shall have learned. Keep your handicap as stiff as it is, if you wish, Mr. Handicapper; that cheque will have to be drawn next time. ® % HAMEL RACE. managed to reduce Hamel's advantage to g sees., the latter being handicapped by a connection between the oil-pipe and the pump breaking. At Walsall, Hamel deemed it prudent not to attempt to land in the official,landing-ground, and, after circling round, came down in an adjoining field. When Hucks landed, his machine was surrounded by a great crowd, and when the half-hour's control was up some difficulty was experienced in getting the people off the course. As a matter of fact, Hucks got away to Birmingham with a slight advantage, but he was unable to keep it, and just as the Tally Uo ground came into sight again Hamel got past, as it were, in the home straight, and won by 20* sees. He described it as the most exciting contest he had competed in, except, perhaps, the Circuit d'Anjou. Both pilots were conducted to the private enclosure, where Lady Coventry presented the Birmingham Daily Post trophy to Mr. Hamel ; to Mr. Hucks a massive silver tankard from the same paper ; and to Mr. J. C. Savage, upon whom the work of organisation had fallen, and who had made such excellent arrangements, a gold cigarette case. In addition to Lord and Lady Coventry, the company in the private enclosure included the Countess of Limerick, Lady Victoria Pery, the Rt. Hon. Wm. Kendrick and Mrs. Kendrick, Mr. and Mrs. Neville Chamberlain, Sir W. H. Vaudrey and Lady Vaudrey, Sir Whitworth Wallis, Mrs. Hucks (Mr. Hucks' mother) and Miss Hucks. During the wait for the arrival of Hucks and Hamel at Birmingham, exhibition flights were given by Sydney Pickles on a Bleriot and Edwin Prosser on his Caudron. The times of arrival at the various controls were :— Hamel. Hucks. Start ... Redditch Coventry Nuneaton Tamworth Walsall Finish ... h. 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 m. 30 39 27 6 52 44 22 s. 2 30 44 47 0 0 10 h. 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 m. 30 39 23 5 52 44 22 s. 2 34 44 47 55 9 30 Subsequently Mr. Hucks issued another challenge to Mr. Hamel to race on similar machines, the race to be held, if possible, early next season. ® ® he hopes to come down for the first time about 95 miles beyond Warsaw, thereby avoiding a repetition of his unpleasant experience at the hands of the German officials. A German Cross-Country Record. ON his " Albatross " biplane Victor Stoeffier, on the 26 ult., flew from Mulhausen in Alsatia to Schloppe about forty kiloms. from Insterburg. He had covered a distance of 1,200 kiloms., a new cross-country record for Germany. Pegoud's latest Exploit. FOLLOWING his successful experiment in abandoning his machine in mid-air and coming down on a safety parachute, Pegoud carried out another experiment on Monday. This time the trials were made under the supervision of M. Bleriot, and with a Bleriot machine fitted with special rudders. Taking the machine to a height of 1,000 metres, Pegoud made a very steep dive, then turned the machine upside down, flew in that position for about 400 metres, turned the machine into its normal flying position, and finally made an ordinary vol plant. On Tuesday, Pegoud repeated his flight before some representatives of the French military authorities. We refer in greater detail to this performance on p. 974. "Flying" Bicycle Race. ON Sunday last, a race was held at the Pare des Princes track, for bicycles fitted with propellers driven by the feet. The winner of the 500 franc prize was Rene Bernhard, who covered the two kiloms, three laps of the track, in 3 mins. 25 sees. His best time over a distance of 120 metres was 8f sees., giving a speed of 41-8 k.p.h. Roger- Dieudonne won the second prize of 200 francs.
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