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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 0894.PDF
I/DGHT] AUGUST 28, 1914. LOST IN THE CLOUDS. By W. ROWLAND DING. THE most terrifying experience I have had since I have been flying, and really the most marvellous that any aviator could well have, oc curred to me when flying from Bath to Harrogate. Setting out from Bath very early one morning, about five- o'clock, and intending to fly straight through to Harro gate without a stop, I found the conditions practically perfect, with the sky beauti fully clear, and not a cloud to be seen. Before very many miles had been covered, however, in the distance I saw a little fleecy cloud just making its ap pearance. It looked quite thin and "very innocent in deed, and I thought the best way would be to get over the top of the cloud and con tinue on my way by the aid of the compass. Having risen over the top of what appeared to be the little cloud, I found that it got larger and larger, the ground being quite hidden from sight; there was simply a beautiful level sea of fleecy white clouds underneath me. I felt quite happy, because the compass appeared to be doing its work, the machine was going well, and the engine running beautifully. Then the sea of white cloud began to rise gradually, when I naturally pulled up the nose of the aeroplane a Mr. W. Rowland Ding. Thus having one cylinder cut off, the machine could not climb quite so rapidly, and as the surface of the cloud itself seemed suddenly to take a very steep ascent, this meant that I had either to come down below it or else continue on straight through the cloud. The extent of the latter being an unknown quantity, I thought the best thing would be to dive down until I was .un derneath it. Switching the engine off, I started diving down from a height of between 3,000 and 4,000 ft., the cloud getting thicker and thicker until I could K not see even the aeroplane itself. In fact, I could only just distinguish the instruments in front of me, about 2 ft. from my face. Of course I was watch ing the height recorder very intently and very anxiously, because it was a great surprise to find that the cloud was so deep. I thought I should soon be underneath it and have a clear view of the ground from about 2,000 or 3,000 feet. I went on diving for a long time, until to my horror the height recorder registered nothing, which meant that I must be very near the ground. As I was unable to see anything at all, I thought the best thing to do would be to make the machine fly as slowly as ever it could. I knew sooner or later I should have to hit something, and so the best thing was to hit it very slowly instead of very fast. For- Tbe Handley-Page biplane -which Mr. W. Rowland Ding has been flying. little and climbed up what 'looked like the side of a big snowy mountain. After keeping on for some time, getting higher and higher, one of the plugs in the engine, probably owing to becoming fouled with oil, mis-fired. tunately the engine I have—the Anzani—throttles down beautifully, and I managed to slow it down till the aeroplane was only travelling at about 35 miles an hour, and with teeth set I continued at this pace until suddenly— 894
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