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Aviation History
1915
1915 - 0577.PDF
AUGUST 6, 1915. FLYING AT MARCH winds and April showers, with one or two characteristics of the various other months thrown in, is the only way of describing the weather conditions'at Hendon last week-end. Saturday was a bit overcast and rather bumpy, but fortunately the rain kept off. Just before 3 o'clock Flight Lieut. F. W. Merriam paid an aerial visit on a Maurice Farman, and punctually at 3 p.m. M. Osipenko ascended on a 50 h.p. G.-W. school 'bus. C. B. Prodger then came out on the 60 h.p. Beatty-Wright biplane, and Osipenko took up a passenger 'on the G.-W. 'bus. J. S. B. Winter took over a similar bus shortly after, whilst Prodger ascended once more on the 60 h.p. Beatty-Wright. He had not been up long before the left-hand propeller went for a joy-ride on its own, whereupon Prodger very smartly switched off and made an excellent landing. The propeller, after making a steep volplane, was picked up practically undamaged. In the meantime Osipenko got busy with passengers on the G.-W. school 'bus, and E. Baumann and G. Virgilio gave exhibitions on the 60 h p. and 50 h.p. Ruffy- Baumann biplanes respectively. Prodger next got away on the 50 h.p. Beatty-Wright, and H. F. Stevens made a high flight on the 45 h.p. Hall Caudron. A little later W. Roche-Kelly came out on the 45 h.p. Beatty- Caudron, but as the engine was not up to revs, he was unable to climb very high. After a couple of passenger flights by Winter on the school 'bus, Osipenko took up two passengers on the 100 h.p. (Green) G.-W. five-seater. In the meanwhile the 125 h.p. Mann twin- pusher biplane had been taken over to the far side of the aerodrome so as to start off head to wind, but trouble was still experienced with the petrol feed, and it was not until nearly 5 o'clock that W. Rowland Ding at last got it into the air and made a short trip. At the same time Flight-Lieut. Sydney Pickles came out on the new Curtiss tractor and put up some very fine banks, &c. ® ® The Explosion at Wormwood Scrubbs. THE following is the report of the London Fire Brigade in con nection with the explosion at the airship shed at Wormwood Scrubbs on the 28th ult. ;— " The Brigade were called at 10.37 a.m. to the premises of the Royal Naval Air Service, Wormwood Scrubbs, Shepherd's Bush, W. The cause and the insurance are unknown. Damage: A shed building, about 350 ft. by 80 ft. (used as store), about one-fourth of the contents damaged by fire and explosion, rest of building and the contents damaged slightly by heat, smoke and water. " P. W. Tarlott, Thomas J. Pendlebury, ages unknown, Arthur Matthews aged sixteen years, Stanard Warne, aged twenty years, and James A. Morris, aged thirty-five years, all burned on bodies ; E. B. Jarvis, aged eighteen years, injured by bruises and ' gassed'; George W. C. Haydon and F. J. Westerman, ages unknown, burned to death. Death occurred before the Brigade were called." Inquest on the Victims. AN inquest on G. W. C. Haydon (19) and F. J. Westerman (28), of the R.N.A.S., who were killed in the hydrogen explosion at Wormwood Scrubbs, was held at Hammersmith on the 31st. It was intimated by the Admiralty representative that there was no reason for the inquiry to be held in camera. Flight-Lieutenant Dunville, stationed at Wormwood Scrubbs, said the deceased men were under his command. On Thursday orders were given to draw off hydrogen from several cylinders, and during the process the gas suddenly exploded. He could not account for the explosion, and it was not caused by any irregularity in the cylinders. It was purely accidental, and was not due to any neglect or carelessness on the part of anyone. The explosion was one of considerable force, and the shed was damaged, the sides being_ burst out. A good many other men who were in the shed were injured, but with one exception they were going on well. In reply to questions, the witness said hydrogen was very highly explosive when it came into contact with air, and he had heard of a similar accident with it. He was in charge of the shed, which If LIGHT I HENDON. School work then commenced to merge with the re maining passenger and exhibition flights that were made during the rest of the evening. Sunday was a much more pleasant day, and there was a very good attendance—reminiscent somewhat of Sundays of old. There was plenty of flying, but this differed only a little from the previous day's, most of the pilots and machines being the same. G. Virgilio and E. Baumann were both out on the 50 h.p. and 60 h.p. Ruffy-Baumann biplanes. Baumann made a high flight, and was loudly applauded by the spectators at its con clusion. M. Osipenko flew the 50 h.p. G.-W. school 'bus, and also took up many passengers on the 100 h.p. five-seater. J. S. B. Winter was also busy on the 50 h.p. 'bus, and C. B. Prodger made several flights on the 60 h.p. Beatty-Wright. W. Rowland Ding had the 125 h.p. (Anzani) Mann twin-pusher biplane out again. He made two flights, but as trouble is still being experienced with the petrol feed, they were only of about ten minutes' duration. Only three flights were made on August Bank Holiday owing to the high wind—about 45 m.p.h.—and heavy rain storms. However these three flights were well worth seeing, as they were fine examples of airmanship. The first flight was made by C. B. Prodger on the 60 h.p. Beatty-Wright. He remained aloft for about 15 mins., and was tossed about pretty roughly. It was not until Osipenko ascended on the 50 h.p. G.-W. school 'bus that the full force of the wind was demonstrated, for the machine pitched and tossed in an extraordinary manner for about ten minutes, when Osipenko thought he had had enough, and so descended. A little later on Prodger ascended once more, but was compelled to make for Mother Earth again rather suddenly, though safely, owing to a heavy downpour of rain. It was then that the weather broke up altogether, and no more flying was possible. ® ® was surrounded by sentries, whom it would be impossible for anyone to pass. Wing-Commander F. Boothby said he was called from his office by an officer, who stated that there had been an explosion in one of the sheds. He arrived at the shed at the same time as the Fire Brigade. The building was full of smoke. At that time a party of officers and men were extinguishing the fire, and they had it well in hand. Some of the gas cylinders were still burning. The Fire Brigade assisted and the flames were got under. In answer to further questions, witness said that when hydrogen gas was mixed with a certain proportion of air it became explosive. He had previous experience of cylinders catching fire spontaneously, but it was a rare occurrence. He knew of four cases in this country, and two casei in Germany in which airships had been destroyed by the same means. As to the cause of the spontaneous combustion, witness said the matter had been referred to the best scientists of the country, and no one had been able to discover the cause. It might l>e due to the electricity in the air, and at the time of the explosion there was thunder about. It might be due to friction caused by small pieces of metal in the cylinder. Another supposed cause was oil in the cylinder. All these theories had been tested, but none had been proved. So far as he knew, the explosion did not occur in connection with anything else except the valve of the cylinder, and he was perfectly satisfied that there was no careless ness or negligence on anybody's part. The Coroner : It might have occurred, according to your evidence, at any time and under all sorts of conditions?—Ves. In your opinion this was a spontaneous combustion of hydrogen ? —Yes. Sergeant Woolger, of the London Fire Brigade, and Sub-Officer Chappel, gave evidence showing that the fire was quickly extin guished with water. They were satisfied that the cause of the explosion was accidental. The jury returned a verdict of " Accidental death," and found that the explosion was due to the accidental ignition of hydrogen gas. 577
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