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Aviation History
1920
1920 - 1055.PDF
OCTOBER 7, 1920 •was getting ready to land, and with this realisation came that of the defeat of Great Britain. After making a perfect landing. Raynham told us his tale: The outward trip, although the engine was not all-out, took less time than Lecointe's, but on the return trip from the far turning point at Gidy the oil pump broke, and all hope of carrying on broke with it. Thus the only representative of this country was out of the running, and the Cup had definitely gone to France. One sympathises with Raynham's bad luck, as he would otherwise have put up an excellent fight for first place, having at least an even chance of winning it. Britain's Dwindling Chances "' When it was announced that the Sop with machine would not be able to take part in the Gordon-Bennett race, the •chances of this country winning the Cup were reduced by at least a third. Fitted with a Jupiter engine of 450 h.p., and weighing little if any more than some of the machines with far less power, the Sopwith would undoubtedly have showed a terrific turn of speed. However, the fates decided otherwise, and it then rested with the Martinsyde " Semi- quaver," and the British Nieuport " Goshawk " to uphold the honour of this country. Both these machines were known to be very fast, both having established British speed records at Martlesham. When the " Goshawk " failed to arrive at the Villesauvage aerodrome on Sunday night, fears began to be entertained as regards the starting in the race of this machine. It was still barely possible that James might bring it over from Le Bourget early on Monday morning, but as the a search for ttje customs' official it was discovered that this personage was nowhere to be found, and nobody seemed to know where he was. In the meantime, James had to kick his heels (in the absence of the customs official !), and it was not until a couple of hours later that this high and mighty one could be found, and by the time James finally managed to get through the red tape and make a start it was twenty minutes past six. He got across to Le Bourget, but to proceed to Etampes was out of the question. On Monday, September 27, the weather was so bad that it was quite impossible to start, and it was not until the morning of the race that James could bring the " Goshawk " over to Etampes. His cross country flight necessitated something like nine landings between Hendon and Etampes, several of which were made in small fields. What this means will be realised by everyone who knows the landing speed and length of landing run of such a fast racing machine. Although less spectacular, Raynham's progress with the Martinsyde " Semiquaver " was also something of an achievement. The machine was towed behind Raynham's car the whole way on its own wheels. Accompanied by his friend, Mr. McGeagh Hirst, Raynham, in his characteristic calm and unostentatious way, put the tail skid of the " Semi- quaver " on the back of his car, and thus trundled the machine all the way from Brooklands to Etampes. (One gathers that the modus operandi was slightly different across the Channel.) The only damage sustained on that long trek was one shock absorber chafed through and one puncture* THE GORDON-BENNETT RACE : The Spad, flown by M. B. de Romanet, had its top plane mounted direct on the fuselage, as seen in the left-hand photo, above. In Lecointe's Nieuport stream-lining was carried to a finish. Note, in the right-hand photo., casing around exhaust pipes, and fairings on wings and body where struts are attached rules stipulated that all machines had to be on the aerodrome by 7 a.m. on Monday, it was feared that it would be impossible even for James to find his way so early in the morning. As the hours passed it became evident that the machine was ruled out, unless the officials agreed to waive this rule. This they refused to do, and nobody really blamed them ; a rule is a rule, and it was obviously impossible to keep the entry open indefinitely. The result was that there was only Raynham left to put up a fight against the other five competitors. The history of James's flight from Hendon to Etampes on the Nieuport " Goshawk " is one to fill one with wonder on the one hand and with indignation on the other—wonder at the skill and courage which enabled him to pilot such a fast racing machine across country for hundreds of miles under the most unfavourable weather conditions, and indignation at the red tape which caused the " Goshawk " to be late for the race. The first start was made from Hendon on Saturday, September 25, in very thick weather. Climbing to 6,000 ft., James, who had agreed to fly the machine to Etampes for his friend and fellow pilot, Tait-Cox, who was feeling, very unwell, started out for Lympne, but the visibility was so poor that he gradually had to come down to 450 ft. Realising that it would be hopeless to start out for France under such conditions, James had to turn back, and eventually landed safely at Hendon. On the Sunday, conditions were a little better, but it was not until after midday that a start could be made. A landing was made at Lympne at five minutes to four in order to get the machine cleared by the customs' authorities, who had been advised by telephone of James's arrival. WJien he began The machine actually flew in the race with the two wheels on which she had made the journey across. This speaks well not only of the machine itself, but also of the Palmer wheels. When we left Raynham at the Hotel du Grand Monarque at Etampes he was looking forward to making the. return trip in the same way. Truly a man like that deserves better luck than Raynham has had. THE MACHINES With the exception of the three American entrants, the machines entered for this year's " G.-B." were already fairly- well known to readers of FLIGHT. The Martinsyde " Semi- quaver " was to all intents and purposes identical with that flown by Courtney in the Aerial Derby. The fuselage was the same, repaired after Courtney's crash, and the wings were of similar design, although of slightly smaller area to those used in the Derby. As the machine was exhibited at the Olympia Aero Show, it will be familiar to all. Suffice it to point out that it is fitted with a 300 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine, the same as that of Lecointe's winning French Nieuport, and it probably is of the same speed or possibly even a shade faster. This particular Hispano is a fairly old engine, and has not had bestowed upon it nearly as much care in tuning up as had its French competitor. Otherwise there is not the slightest doubt that Raynham would have given Lecointe a good run for his money. The British Nieuport Like the Martinsyde, the (British) Nieuport " Goshawk " will be known to our readers from its participation in the Aerial Derby, in which race engine trouble prevented the machine from making the showing it was really capable of. 1057 E 2 I.
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