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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 1044.PDF
[/ycflT] SEPTEMBER 37, 1913. MR. PEMBERTON BILLING WINS A WAGER. LAST week, as most people know, Mr. Pemberton Billing made a most remarkable demonstration of how it is possible to learn to fly and secure a pilot's certificate within the space of a few hours. Subsequent to the feat we saw Mr. Pemberton Billing, whose account of his experiences was as follows :— "The flight was the outcome of a wager made at Hendon when Handley Page stated that on his automatically stable machine anyone could learn to fly in a very short time—twenty-four hours, to use his own expression. I stated, in reply, I did not believe in automatic stability, but I did believe in the skilful handling of a machine, and that any man who had enough sense to come in out of the wet could learn to fly a known flying machine in one summer's day. The result was that I made a wager with Mr. Page that he, as the inventor and constructor of his own machine, could not learn to fly it in the time he stated, and I made another wager that I would take any aeroplane that he could secure and would not only learn to fly but obtain the Royal Aero Club's certificate within twenty-four hours of sitting on the machine, the terms of the wager being ,£500. This attempt was to start at dawn on Wednesday morning, and the ticket was to be completed before dawn on Thursday morning. As I found it impossible to hire a machine for the purpose, I had to buy a machine eventually, to be able to carry out the conditions. At a quarter to six on Wednesday morning, in drizzling weather, I started at Brooklands on the Henry Farman biplane which I had acquired, which is a fac-simile of the one that Paulhan flew to Manchester. Mr. Page was to make his try at Hendon. Mr. Barnwell, chief pilot of the Vickers school, volunteered to come up as passenger and verbally instruct me, I taking the pilot's seat and controls. After four minutes taxying Mr. Barnwell gave the sign to shove her up in the air. I did so, and we attained a height of 200 ft. flying steadily. Mr. Barnwell accompanied me for about 20 to 25 mins. in the passenger seat, during which time I succeeded in doing some dozen circuits of the aerodrome. Several figure eights, two or three vol plants, landings, and some landing under power were carried out, and as it was raining and the machine was sodden and sluggish in consequence of carrying two 13-stone men, this made the landing rather speedy and much more difficult in con sequence. At the end of 25 mins. Mr. Barnwell left me, and told me to get up and get on with it. I immediately started away without any taxying, rose straight in the air at an exceedingly dan gerous angle, amid the yells and shrieks of the spectators. I did a half circle and landed successfully, got up again immediately and did a circle and landed successfully, and then rose again and did five circuits. It was my intention to do twelve, but the petrol running out brought me down, the idea of coming trouble dawning upon me by the missing of the engine and the frantic waving of petrol cans by agitated spectators below. The rain had then set in so heavily that I was obliged to put the machine away for half an hour, at the termination of which time the machine was brought out again, and Mr. Barnwell went once again as passenger for three or four minutes to test my right-hand turns before allowing me to essay the figure eight alone. Immediately on descending, Mr. Barnwell jumped out of the machine, and I took her up at once, doing three successful eights. During the right- hand turns of these I managed to execute the most alarming banks, and, from inexperience, startled by the angle at first hung on to the struts. When I had descended from this stunt, on Mr. Barnwell's orders I proceeded to practise vol planing from an altitude of about 100 ft., with the engine cut off, which experience I found about the most arduous of all. While I was performing my gyrations in the air Mr. Barnwell thought it about time to send for Mr. Ranee, the Royal Aero Club official observer. There was some delay in finding him, as the weather, which was puffy and wet, never led him to believe anyone would want his services on such a morning. Eventually he was found, and kindly consented to observe, notwith standing the short notice given. Incidentally this entailed a loss of an hour or more in the time in which it would have been possible for me to have taken my ticket, because it stands to reason that if I was capable of doing the test at a quarter past nine I was quite as capable of doing it at a quarter to eight, so I was practically waiting during that time to go through the regulation tests. Although Mr. Ranee expressed himself as exceedingly dubious about the advisability of attempting, he consented to act in his official capacity. I then rose in a very steep climb to a height of about 250 ft., so as to make sure of the altitude test once and for all. Then I came round with a left-hand bend, and proceeded on my first five figure eights. The five, so I was told afterwards, were good sound flying of an experienced airman, although the fifth right-hand turn proved an alarming one. I was flying over the paddock, where my wife was watching very Mr. Pemberton Billing, in the pilot's seat, receiving instructions fromlhisj'tutor and passenger, Mr. Barnwell. 1070
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