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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 0833.PDF
: JULY 29, 1920 enthusiastic crowd of well-wishers, and congratulated on having once again pulled off the Aerial Derby Handicap 1st Prize. When a second " Baby" hove in sight some five minutes later, there was considerable rejoicing, for these little 'buses had undoubtedly won the hearts of all— as well as first and second places in the handicaps. Just as Hinkler landed, Newall made a second parachute descent from an Avro, this time dropping in a second parachute from the first one when the latter had fallen a short distance. In ten minutes' time another machine approached the aero- drome, and as it drew near we recognised Hawker's Sop- with. To everyone's surprise, instead of making the required half-circuit of the aerodrome, Hawker flew straight into the aerodrome past No. 1 pylon, but not across the line. It was obvious by his time of arrival that he would have found a place in the handicap, so there was much disappointment at his not finishing correctly. On landing he said he thought the finish was the same as last year's, hence the mistake. Well, Hawker, do not have No. 13 next time ! About two minutes after Hawker came Courtney, and the smile on Raynham's face was good to see, for there was little doubt that the " Semi-Quaver " had won first place in the Derby. It was then that the only unpleasant incident in the day's successful proceedings (at the 'drome, that is) occurred. Courtney was just about to land—and had, in fact, already touched the ground—when the machine suddenly bounced into the air, struck the ground with the lift wing tip, and turned completely over. It was a horrible moment, and we can never remember having experienced a greater feeling of relief than we did when we saw some six foot or so of Courtney worm itself out from the letter-box-like opening between the ground and the machine, apparent! ' but little hurt. A simultaneous burst of cheering.greeted his appear- ance, not only from the enclosures but from the distant surrounding hills which were crowded with people. Later enquiries revealed the fact that, bar a shaking and a few cuts, he was none the worse for his spill, which was caused primarily by the bad bit of ground on which he landed and by being partially blinded by the sun and steam from the radiator. In the meanwhile James arrived home, and in land- ing just managed to miss the crowd of busybodies streaming across the ground towards the Semi-Semiquaver. A lonely " Snipe," piloted by Jordan, came along next and just managed to cross the line and land at the far end of the aerodrome before he ran out of petrol. Nisbet, on the Martinsyde F.6, and Uwins, on the Bristol, fallowed at short intervals, and at about 5.30 Hubbard, on the remaining Martinsyde, brought his exceptionally plucky and sporting effort to a close with a really fine landing in the worst part of the ground. Considering that the last-named competitor is one of our pioneers in flying (dating back to 1911), and by no means as young as the majority of his rivals, his performance in the race is one of no minor merit. After waiting about on the off-chance of some of the other com- petitors arriving, we eventually ascertained that ail were either down or in, so, taking the hint from Hawker and Uwins, who flew home on their respective machines, we did likewise —only on a motor 'bus. An innovation in the organisation of the Turning Point arrangements was the fitting of Field Service Telephones. This was carried out at very short notice by the London Telephone (New System) Co., Ltd., and enabled the official observers at all Turning Points to be in direct communication with the Judges' Box at Hendon throughout the race. ~~~~~ ' " ' - -- jgetuiUctere ihafr-failed- to corpplpte tll!LJw9 circuits are accounted for as under. Tait-Cox did not get far before he experienced trouble, which necessitated a landing at Brooklands. Cotton, on the Airco 14A, however, all but completed his second lap, when the petrol pipe started a leak just as he was nearing the final turning point at Hertford. This caused a fire, and on landing the machine fouled some telegraph wires, and rather badly crashed into a field. Cotton was uninjured, but his passenger was slightly injured, and had to be removed to Hertford Hospital. Lieut. Fall had to land at Epping on the first lap, but Lieut. Longton, who was leading Jordan, carried on until the second lap. Capt. Westgarth-Heslam, on the Avro Schneider, was doing excellent time until soon after he passed W. Thurrock, when he experienced trouble with the petrol supply and had to come down at Abridge. «-- • _•--•.. / '-. -- '••'- K '" '' 8 5 i a >ffl PC Id Q a H 1 •vc as X a! . =3 E co T3 ft 2 a CM IT. g> .5 ai IIII 'So (I C J3 o3S •^O 00 1-* ro N 'TJ- u") fO i-i 1.1 ) ft X, M O moo •N M HI 0") Tf- 0* rr; M •Kit in ro rooo >o o M Tj- M M W t^ O 00 ^-N O Th ro rl (M TJ- ro "^ w N M ^ io^ '^-•'t-Tf'sj-Tj-ro fnS) XWM o 00OO00 ".O rf) O <*O ro O *-• ro w m uo rt S (N HW O00 00O000 MO3 -^00 OOOOOOOOOOOO 4-» C/3 ^ ro ro ro J3 C i/^ oi t^T IOCO co oo >o ?j- TJ- iT) r^oo to^c ^OOOOOOOOOOOOOO J-H „ G Q G II X, G <N N M -•", r-C ri flj KR° < ' • • ^; -ix - • ^ • • • *4 I ""000000000000 co rO 00 ^^ r^l C^ c^ M ro ro ro CO **^ ^o ro It l llisiliiiliilla O M
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