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Aviation History
1913
1913 - 1075.PDF
The London-Paris-London Race. As the result of a conference between representatives of the Royal Aero Club and the Aero Club of France at Rheims, it has been decided to postpone this event to the spring of next year. The course will be from London to Paris and back and a handicap will be framed on a weight-carrying basis. It was also decided to make it an annual event, and for 1915 the start and finish will be at Paris. For the first year the prizes will amount to about .£1,500, of which the International Correspondence Schools' £700 has already been deposited with the Royal Aero Club, while the remainder will be subscribed by the Aero Club of France. New Passenger Records. IT will be seen from the official notices on page 1090, that the Royal Aero Club has accepted the flight of 10 mins. 7 sees., made by Louis Noel, with four passengers, on the Grahame-White biplane as a British recoid, as well as the same pilot's flight of 17 mins. 25! sees., with pilot and seven passengers, and the latter has been submitted to the Federation Aeronautique Internationale as a world's record. Cross-country with Four Passengers. MR. CLAUDE GRAHAME-WHITE on his " char-a-bancs " on Friday of last week paid a visit to Brooklands, taking over five passengers, including Mr. and Mrs. Gates and Messrs. North, Chapman and Carr. Later, the party, with Mr. Manders replacing Chapman, returned to Mendon, the 19 miles being covered in a quarter of an hour. Death of Capt. Bertram Dickson. WITHIN a week of the anniversary of the terrible accident which so tragically cut short his brilliant career as a pilot, Capt. Bertram Dickson, we regret extremely to record, died on Sunday last at Lochrosque Castle, Ross-shire. It will be remembered that at the end of the Milan meeting, at which his flying had drawn forth the congratulations of the King of Italy, Capt. Dickson was rising on his Farman biplane when an Antoinette machine piloted by Thomas crashed down upon it. This occurred on October 2nd, 1910, and Capt. Dickson was so terribly injured that his friends never expected that he would recover. His splendid physique and courage, however, enabled him to literally fight his way back to health again, although he was never able to completely shake off the effects of the injuries he had sustained. He always looked forward to the time when he hoped to be able once more to pilot an aeroplane, but it was not to be. He will, however, be remem bered for all time as the first aviator to take part in British Army manoeuvres, and for his fine flying at Angers, Tours, Bournemouth, Lanark, Dublin, and many other places. Col. Seel/s Latest Flight. ON Friday of last week Col. Seely, the Secretary for War, made his fifth flight with an aeroplane, going up in one of the Army machines stationed at the temporary aerodrome for the manoeuvres at Lilbourne, Northamptonshire. The King and Queen were interested spectators of the flight, and heartily congratulated Col. Seely when he descended. Their Majesties also made an inspection of the various machines which had taken part in the manoeuvres. Progress oE Mrs. Stocks and Mr. Sydney Pickles. AT the moment of going to press we learned that Mrs. Stocks was still lying unconscious, but was taking her food well, while Mr. Pickles, although he did not pass such a good night on Wednesday, was going on hopefully. Robert Loraine to Fly Again. AFTER a rest of nearly three years Mr. Robert Loraine. the actor-aviator, has decided to take up flying again, and his re appearance was to have been made at Hendon on a Grahame- White machine on Thursday last. Mr. Prosser at Cardiff, Two good flights were made by Mr. Edwin Prosser on his Caudron biplane at Cardiff, on Saturday. Starting from the Ely racecourse he flew over the football ground at Ninian Park and finished his flight by a good spiral vol plane'at the racecourse. Later in the afternoon he made a trip round the Canton end of the city, his progress being watched by large crowds at every vantage point. Aerial Experiments at Watford. EXPERIMENTAL tests are shortly to be conducted at The Lea Graston, near Watford, the residence of Mr. Wallace Spiers, with a waterplane, invented by Mr. William Beedle, inventor of the Beedle Fan and Propeller, who will be remembered by many as the constructor of a dirigible as far back as 1903. The new machine will be known as the Beedle and Wallace Spiers biplane, and among the advantages claimed for it are stability and safety under any weather conditions. A Change of Name. WE understand that Mr. D. E. Garnett having severed his con nection with Messrs. Lang, Garnett and Co., the name of the firm has been changed to the Lang Propeller, Ltd. Communications should in future bs so addressed to the Riverside Works, Weybridge, Surrey. The Firm's telephone number is Weybridge 182 and their telegraphic address " Aerosticks " Weybridge. & ® A TRIBUTE TO THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS. HEARING that Mr. Holt Thomas, who in the past so repeatedly drew attention to what was going on abroad, had visited the aviation camps at the Manoeuvres, we asked his views, and quote his letter to the Editor :— "I can only say I was astounded. I know the work that has gone on during the last 18 months or so, but I certainly did not expect the result as shown by this year's manoeuvres under particu larly trying conditions and in very unpleasant country. I refer to the superb skill and excellent organisation of the aerial force, which, though small, now only wants increasing in numbers and in size. I am not ashamed, as perhaps one of the strongest critics of our dilatory methods in the past, to pay a tribute to the (in my opinion) extraordinary results obtained in a very short time. " To confess oneself astounded may tend to show ignorance of what our naval and military pilots are capable of, and I do not mind confessing to that with the qualifying words 'as a body.' It is common knowledge that we have pilots in both services second to none, but the work done by one and all at the recent manoeuvres was the first real evidence of the possession of a ' force.' The wind was exceptional, and it needed no gauge with which to measure it, the pilots themselves providing that by flying machines practically to a standstill. No wind, however, brought them down. At Lil bourne, when I was there, the wind was certainly up to fifty miles an hour and the country very far from ideal for landing, and yet directly a message was received asking for reports in certain districts no hesitation was shown in despatching machines. With a fairly wide experience of what is going on abroad, I think I may safely say we have nothing to fear as to the ' quality' of the British service pilot He is second to none, and has shown it under more than active- service conditions. " I remember the manoeuvres of 1910, when the late Captain Bertram Dickson was the only pilot. (He met with the accident, which has so lamentably cut off his career, only a few days after.) Three years ago, and yet, fine pilot as he was, the wind, although only a moderate breeze, actually forced him down, and this over Salisbury Plain ; and now three years later we find almost identically the same number of machines as employed at this year's French manoeuvres flying in wind which reduced the speed of the machines to almost a standstill. It is impossible to give sufficient credit to the Royal Flying Corps and those respon sible for it. The 3rd Squadron—moving the whole camp, machines, workshop and men day by day—showed what can be done in the way of transport. When I visited them, in awful weather, fog alone was holding them back, and this, not because they could not fly in it, but because their reports would be useless. All we want is more men of the same type I have seen at this year's manoeuvres and more machines, as although we employed almost the same number of machines as France, they had only a very small propor tion of their available number employed. The progress shown here is enormous, and I have no hesitation in admitting that I was astounded. " In the Irish manoeuvres the same good flights were put up, including the crossing of the Irish Channel. " As far as organisation is concerned, here again, although great difficulties must have been overcome by someone, little was lacking. If we go on as we have begun we need not fear meeting any force superior in skill although we still lack numbers. It is the more creditable to the general system of training and organising our Flying Corps, inasmuch as we know that it has all been arrived at in an almost incredibly short time, I mean, since the time when no Flying Corps existed. "A word should be said for the dirigibles, which, although sadly lacking in size and number, were on active-service conditions and doing splendid work." IIOI
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