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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0784.PDF
\[iML done the greater part of our journey, and had a good half of our resources still in hand. To have turned into the high wind for the sake of making an unnecessary landing would have been sheer waste of time and trouble, and so we left Brooklands behind us and raced ahead. Just after this, the machine surprised me by wavering a little once or twice, for the first time since we left Shoreham—it had been as steady as a rock ever since. I put it down to the state of the air, which was quite different as weneared the Thames, but Mr. Hall explained afterwards that when we started he had the compass set for Brooklands, and after passing there had been busy resetting it for Hendon, with altered course and wind accordingly. Over the river and beyond it, the wind was very tricky, and there were patches of haze and cloud everywhere j London itself lay under a thick blanket of black smoke. Only a few minutes after crossing the Thames I recognised the Welsh Harp, and then, in no time at all, microscopically tiny and with colours dulled by the mist, the red-white-and-blue pylons of the London Aerodrome. The song of the engine ceased, the propeller slackened, stopped ; and slowly, gently, we floated round the whole extent of the aerodrome for perhaps a couple of circuits. I know of nothing so indescribably fascinating as this particular feat, and Mr. Hall executes it to perfection, but it cannot be done on every machine, nor should it be attempted by any but a thoroughly capable and resource ful aviator, as the sequel shows. Whether the spirits of the air at Hendon were annoyed at having been neglected, even for a week-end, I cannot say, but apparently they withdrew their support from us, for we suddenly and quite simply fell down. I had always wanted to know what JULY 24, 1914. this particular experience felt like, and now I do, but I had barely time to realise it properly at the moment.) The voice behind me said " Remou f " the nose of the machine went down in a nearly vertical dive, the propeller spun round again, and in far less time than it takes to tell we were on our way in a normal attitude, and at full flying speed. It was a magnificent " save " at the end of an altogether fine piece of flying. I would not have missed it for the world, and my one regret was that there were not more people there to see it. After that, anything else would have been an anti climax, so we came down, landing so beautifully that it was impossible to tell when we touched the ground. We made our way to the telephone office, and I addressed the inevitable stack of picture postcards, while Mr. Hall rang up Shoreham to announce our safe arrival. I knew we had done well, but the real fun of the thing only struck me when he got through to his mechanics, who had just settled down to a well deserved breakfast, and found it at first difficult to convince them that we had really reached Hendon. They did not give us credit for getting even so far as Brooklands, and thought we must have come down somewhere en route ! Well, it was not surprising, for we had done the whole journey, from one shed to the other, in forty-five minutes. It may not be a record, but for a little machine like the 50 h.p. Avro, handicapped by carrying a passenger, it was a first-class piece of work. At any rate, I 9 know one person U •If will never forget it— * ' ^v and that is the pas senger, fAwOb yioa ® $ ® ® A REMINISCENCE OF THE MONACO AERIAL RALLY A r,..„t t M. A. Mallard Lnffl^S^A^JS' ^ ** C0Bipttltton °f 784
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