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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0737.PDF
forward in the march of science as was the first important but unsuccessful attempt to lay the Atlantic cable, and it will so rank in history. The lessons they have learned will help forward the time when a direct Atlantic flight will be almost as easy as, and even more useful than, that across the British Channel. As remarkable as the exploits of our two heroes is the immutable confidence in Divine Providence of Muriel Hawker, who not for one instant faltered in her absolute belief that her husband would be restored to her. " Were T present I should like to raise a glass in congratula tion of our American friends on their careful and charac teristic preparations for their fine record-breaking flight to the Azores and Lisbon. They still have left to us the problem of a direct flight from America to Europe. Personally, I have no doubt but that, with the lessons and experience gained by Hawker and Grieve, a direct flight will soon be accomplished, and that by a British plane with a British motor, manned by Britons." The Chairman, in proposing the toast of " Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve," said that had Mr. Hawker's only object been to gain the £10,000 prize he would have waited for better weather, but he felt that for the honour of the British Empire he was no longer free to choose his own time. The spirit which he had shown was the British spirit, and they knew very well that it was the spirit of Australia. They offered their most sincere congratulations to the United States Navy upon its great flight to Lisbon. But they could not refrain from congratulating Mr. Hawker and' Com mander Grieve that in one way or another they had got across the Atlantic first. He was not going to adopt the cool view in which their efforts would be described as a failure. In the present stage of the art of flying there was no such word as failure. Every effort led directly to accomplishment. Mr. Hawker's flight had taught him and every other airman a great deal which nobody knew until he arrived at Thurso, and what he learned would enable one of them to fly the Atlantic at no very distant date. Mai.-Gen. Seely, in presenting Mr. Hawker and Com mander Grieve with the cheque for £5,000, the consolation prize offered by the Daily Mail, said he wished first of all to say on behalf, not only of the Air Ministry, but of His Majesty's Government as a whole, and of the whole of the people of Great Britain and the Empire, that they rejoiced to see them both safe and sound. It was a good thing that they had done : it had not been a useless thing. The lesson that Commander Grieve taught was that in an aeroplane 15,000 ft. up above the clouds, a man with a cool head and steady brain could take accurate observations frcm the stars with a cloud horizon. There had been.no tinge of jealousy of our Anglo-Saxon brethren, the Americans ; they were more anxious, he believed, even than the people of this country, and he could not put it higher, for their safety when the news had come through that it was probable those two men were missing. Still less was there jealousy on the part of the Royal Air Force. The presence of Gen. Sykes testified to one side of their organisation. Gen. Trenchard, the Chief of the Air Staff, and formerly Commander of the Independent Air Force, to whom the country owed so much for the victory we had gained, had asked him to say on his own behalf and on behalf of the Royal Air Force that he hoped they would accept a message from him. It was a characteristic and simple message. " On behalf of the Royal Air Force I would like to add our congratulations and thanks to Mr. Hawker and Lieut.-Commander Grieve. I think I can safely say that no one is a better judge of what this flight of Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve really meant than the pilots and observers of the Royal Air Force. They know the amount of determination that is required, and they also know the appalling strain of waiting, waiting, waiting until the weather gets right to do a long flight, and many a man with the necessary grit and determination has failed through that waiting. We all know that Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve did not fail in this way, and this is the greatest com pliment T can pay them." On behalf of every officer in the Excess Profits Duty Decision IT was announced in the London Gazette of Tuesday last that the Board of Referees had to decide not to make any order on the application by the Society of British Aircraft Constructors for an increase of the statutory percentage of profits free from excess profits duty. The " Jupiter " Aero Engine IN our issue of May 22 we published an illustration of this engine the inscription accompanying which was so worded as to indicate that the figures given, of weight/hp. etc., were obtained during tests at the R.A.E. It should be Royal Air Force, he could say they were proud of their achieve ments, and they rejoiced that the King had been pleased to give to each of them the Air Force Cross for distinguished acts of gallantry in the air. He thought he disclosed no secret when he said that it was due to His Majesty's direct intervention that all difficulties as to time and all difficulties of red tape had been swept away in order that he as the head of the State and the head of the great British Empire might that day present them with this coveted distinction for acts of exceptional gallantry. They were two good men who were being honoured that day. Mr. Hawker, by his technical knowledge, by his nerve and skill, and by his gallantry in testing new types during the War, had contributed in the first degree to producing the wonderful machines which had helped us to gain supre macy over the enemy. He might well be proud of that War record. Commander Grieve, of the Silent Service, served with his comrades in the Royal Navy, and always with distinction. Mr. Hawker, who was received with cheers, said he wished to thank the Daily Mail for its exceptional kindness and for the gift of £5,000 for their feeble effort. Speaking of the delay due to the weather, he said that Raynham and .he on the night before he started, had decided that if they could not get across to England on the next day, they would go by the Azores and Portugal, for the weather at that time was blowing an easterly gale,'and they could not have reached England by direct flight owing to the consumption of petrol that would require. As it happened, on the next day the weather reports were better. It was most unfortunate for Raynham that he could not get off with an east wind, but it was fortunate for them. There had been some talk of the manner in which the Admiralty and the War Office had backed their attempt. He did not think they could have wished for better assistance than they had had from the Air Ministry. They had had access to all their latest information, and everything possible had been done to assist them. There was nothing for which they could ask which the Air Ministry would not do before they left. They had been given every assistance, even to the wireless supply. Unfortunately that was not successful, but it was the latest thing thev had. The failure was not due to the wireless itself, but to the failure of their fittings. If they were going to fly the Atlantic they had first to decide whether it was a serious effort—as the Americans called it, a " do or die effort." They had weighed it up, and theirs had been a serious attempt in every way. With the ordinary amount of luck they got in a machine, there was no reason why they should not cover the distance overland to-morrow. They would think nothing of the distance overland. Commander Grieve, who was also loudly cheered, said he wished heartily to endorse every word Mr! Hawker had said. He confessed that at one time he had been frightened about the navigation. When he left St. John's the'sun was shining, and there were clouds below. He had used the clouds as he would have used the sea, with certain technical differences. That had gone on for four hours, when the clouds got up higher than themselves, and sights were impossible at a time when they were most required. About sunset the stars came out, but he got no sights for four or five hours until the moon came out. He then managed to get sights again, and recovered their position. This showed that navigation in aircraft was quite possible and practical, and there was no difficulty about it in ordinary favourable cir cumstances, which one should get in the ordinary course of events. Of course wireless was a valuable adjunct, and the position of ships met with was important as a check. Unfortunately their wireless went wrong through lack of trial ; they had only received the fittings just before they left, and had not tried them in the air. In every other way the navigation of the whole trip was a success so far as they got. Mr. Andrew Fisher proposed the health of the Chairman, and, on the suggestion of Mr. W. G. Emery, a message was sent to Lord Northcliffe wishing him a speedv recovery. <S> <!> pointed cut that the tests wefe net carried out at the R.A.E. but at the works of the Cosmcs Co. in the presence of R.A.F. representatives. In the ci.cumstances, therefore, they do not constitu e official calibration tests. W.R.A.F. Gratuities THE Air Ministry announces that it is proposed to embody a special provision in the Finance Bill exempting from taxa tion benefits payable to officers and other ranks of the Women's Royal Air Force. No assessments on these benefits will, therefore, be made.
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