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Aviation History
1914
1914 - 1215.PDF
FROM the ever-cheerful and optimistic Louis Noel we have received the post-card, seen ih the accompanying illustration, with the greeting : " I send to you and to the whole staff of FLIGHT my best wishes for a Happy Christmas and Bright New Year in the hope that soon we shall meet again at Hendon." From the fact that Noel is himself, in the picture, seated in a Morane mono plane, it must not be concluded that he is flying this type of machine. Noel is, as I have pointed out before, attached to an Escadrille Bleriot, among whose members is also found Capitaine Oswald Watt, the Australian aviator. The wish expressed by Noel that we may all soon meet again at Hendon, is one which will be heartily reciprocated by one and all. XXX I was greatly interested in a " trial run " of a new Imp cinematograph drama produced for the Trans-Atlantic Film Co. Ltd., entitled,," The Secret of the Air." It will be " released" on January 21st, 1915, and should appeal to a number of FLIGHT readers, since it shows, inciden tally to the " story," several scenes from Hendon at its best in bright sunlight as we all like to remember it. It would not be fair to reveal the plot, but it is sufficient to state that the airman's part is played by Claude Grahame- White, who, in those days, before the war claimed his services in a more serious capacity, revealed himself as an amateur film actor of no mean order. Among the other scenes witnessed on this film, and only indirectly connected with the "story," is a very exciting start by the late Gustav Hamel on his 50 h.p. Bleriot in a nasty side wind, and an equally fine landing showing Haniel in his best form. As a reminiscence of Hendon's great days, " The Secret of the Air " is well worth seeing, apart from the interest attached to the " plot." XXX Visitors to Hendon Aerodrome on Saturday last were treated to an enormous amount of air work, which, as regards quantity, was quite equal to anything seen there in the days of exhibition flights and races, although BBIE: naturally of a non competitive character, since it con sisted almast entirely of school work. The lack of excitement, however, must have been mostly on the part of the spectators, for, as regards the pupils them selves, I should imagine that they were having all the thrills that they wanted, what with handling their own machines, and dodging other 'buses piloted by other enthusiasts in various stages of proficiency- Whether it is a matter of luck or due to the pupils' skill is difficult to determine, but it certainly seems nothing short of marvellous, that no collisions have yet taken place, in view of the great number of machines that may be seen in the air on any calm day. Although the aerodrome is of ample size, the portion of it that is fit for rolling and " straights " in the earlier stages of a pupil's career is comparatively small, and it is not diffi cult to understand why the Naval authorities require practi cally all the space available. Even when the private schools have vacated their sheds there will not be too much moving room, either of the ground or air variety, for almost every day sees the arrival of new machines from various factories.- The types now represented out at Hendon include: School machines belonging to the gender colloquially known as the " box kite," Henry and Maurice Farmans, Caudrons, Avros, B.Es., Sopwiths (Tractors and "Pushers"), Handley - Pages, Deps., Grahame-Whites, Martinsydes (Scouts), kc, and as the number of pupils increases, the demand for more and more machines grows correspondingly. Several of the hangars that have been vacated by private firms have already been occupied by the Naval authorities, and at the other schools which are due to leave the aerodrome preparations are being made to pack the various machines for transport to " pastures new." Two of these schools have already succeeded in finding suitable sites, where the work of erecting the necessary accommodation will be commenced at the earliest possible rA fmm Louis Noel to hand this week, whose greetings we sincerely reciprocate, both on bebalf of A seasonable card /^^fX readers, who have followed in our pages all the good work which be bas done ourselves and, we feel sure, ot^ our rea . ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ JJ ^^ 1215
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