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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0677.PDF
OCTOBER 13, 1921 PERSONALS] Married Capt. PHILIP GEORGE BATEMAN, London Irish Rif. and R.A.T-., son of the late Dr. A. G. Bateman and of Mrs. Bate- man, of 7, Queen Anne Street, W., was married on September 25 at Manastirie, Sinaia, Rumania, to Mdlle. MARIE-LOUISE BLANC, eldest daughter of Mme. IRENE PROCOPIL, lady-in- waiting to the Queen of Rumania, and of the late M. Louis BLANC. The Queen of Rumania, with Princess Marie and Princess Helen of Rumania (the former of whom, according to Rumanian custom, gave away the bride), was present. JOHN HENRY PAULET DAMAN (late Capt. R.A.F.), ofIpswich, second son of the late Rev. Henry Daman, of Eton, and Mrs. Daman, was married on September 10 at ChristChurch, Wanstead, to ANNETTE ROSE RYDER CLARK, onlydaughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. Hammond Clark, of Wanstead, Essex. Flight-Lieut. DAVID S. DON, R.A.F., was married on September 23, at the Roman Catholic Cathedral, Bombay, to MARY MONICA MACDERMOTT. Flying Officer CHARLES PRIDDEN HASLEGRAVE, R.A.F.. only son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Haslegrave, of 294A, Earl's Court Road, S.W. 5, was married on September 3, at Christ Church, Lancaster Gate, to ALMA, only child of the late RICHARD ALLEN and Mrs. ALLEN, of Eastbourne. F.M.S. papers, please copy. Flying Officer PHILIP HERBERT MACKWORTH, D.F.C., son of Mrs. Audley Mackworth, of Caterham Valley, was married on October 4, at St. John's Church, Caterham Valley, to WINIFRED KATHLEEN JUNE MOSS, daughter of Mrs. Moss, of Golders Green. Capt. ROLAND F. H. NORMAN (late Leicestershire Regt. and R.A.F.) was married on September 28, at St. George's Church, Hanover Square, to Mrs. WILLIAMS-BULKELEY, widow of Major R. G. W. Williams-Bulkeley, M.C., Welsh Guards, and daughter of Col. the Hon. Sir HENRY and Lady LEGGE. COLIN WARD SILVESTER, R.A.F., younger son of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. CHALMERS, 4, Cavendish Place, Bath, was married on September 27, at Camberley, to AUDREY KATE MERVYN, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. MERVYN VOULES, Cordwalles, Camberley. Major C. H. STRINGER, D.F.C., late 5th R.I. Lancers,. was married to LORIE BARONESS OMPSTEDA on September j, at the British Embassy Church, Paris. To be Married. The engagement is announced between Flight-Lieut. H. H. BALFOUR, M.C., younger son of Lieut.-Col Nigel H. Balfour, O.B.E., and Mrs. Nigel H. Balfour, Belton, Camberley, and DIANA BLANCHE, second daughter of Sir Robert and the Hon. Lady HARVEY, Langley Park, Slough. Item Capt. J. LEGUIA, D.F.C., Commander in the PeruvianFlying Corps, whose station at Lima he established, is now in town. * During the War Captain Leguia, as a memberof the R.F.C., greatly distinguished himself, and for his gallant services was decorated by His Majesty the King.During his recent sojourn in his own country Captain Leguia flew 7,000 miles. CORRESPONDENCE The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed by correspondents. The names and addresses of the writers,not necessarily for publication, must in all cases accompany letters intended for insertion in these columns. HIGH-SPEED AIR CONTESTS AND ACCIDENTS [2045] Discussing with the distinguished young French parachutist, who has made the greatest number of drops in France, the probabilities of accidents occurring in the race for the Deutsch de la Meurthe Aerial Cup, I enquired what effect a fatal catastrophe to M. Sadi Lecointe would produce upon the attitude of the French air authorities to the compulsory employment of reliable aerial life-saving appliances in con- tests where engines, wings and all materials have to be stressed to the achievable limit. A smile was the only reply. This was on Thursday, September 29, two days before the race. I do not claim any powers of clairvoyance, other than the capability of judging that if any machine went down, it would probably be that of M. Sadi Lecointe, who, in his endeavours to get its utmost achievable speed, would pro- bably sail along the edge of and possibly exceed the limit of its elasticity, as every really great aviator" did in the War. And that is where the personal equation of " luck " was accustomed to jump in. His notable good luck alone has prevailed now, and most fortunately M. Sadi Lecointe, although severely hurt, was not killed"; so the life of this most illustrious of living French aviators has been preserved, as yet, to the French nation. But for how long ? Sooner or later, this daring sportsman of the air will be killed ; for all the most daring aviators end the same way—in a fatal crash—and all for want of being able to jump away into the air from a broken or burning machine. The scientific parachute, with its 100 per cent, efficiency in action, is at their disposal, and if the great air authorities made its use compulsory in these dangerous speed contests, the additional weight of about 25 lbs., all told, would handicap none of the competitors, and the obligation to carry an aerial life-saver would be of inesti- mable moral value iri the lessening of nerve strain to each one alike. M. de Romanet was killed in the preliminary trials for this Cup ; and in our Aerial Derby trials, Capt. Proctor, \ .C, and Mr. Hawker were both killed—the latter probably on account of his weakened physical condition, but, even so, the parachute might have given" him a fighting chance of his life. The other two could undoubtedly have been saved. Take the trouble to examine the list of fatal crashes of great airmen during only the last twelve months, and, from the details given, it will be seen that nearly all of these deaths were avoidable. No nation—English, French or American—can afford to lose its best pilots in this senseless way. And what are these various air authorities doing ? Nothing—for any sign they make to the contrary. All who know anything more than the mere outside of these high-speed contests realise the considerable danger that all who fly in them have to face. The pilots themselves— although no one knows the danger better than themselves, and the strain it is to their nerves—make light of it, and speak contemptuously of parachutes (which, by the way, few have had any opportunity of trying), but in their hearts many would welcome their compulsory addition to their machines. The first lives saved in preliminary high-speed trials and in the contests themselves would put the final extinguisher on all controversy. Let a beginning be made with these, who are some of the best of our men. All crashes and deaths, wheresoever they occur, harm the cause of civil aviation, and keep the business-man out of it. Two or three times a week he sees that somewhere or other pilots and passengers have been killed. That is sufficient for him. The newspapers, anxious to help civil aviation, either omit these occurrences altogether, or hide them away in insignificant paragraphs. The press would do better service to aviation generally by insisting that the time has arrived to stop these avoidable deaths, and to make the carrying of approved aerial life-saving appliances compulsory on all aircraft, as the provision of lifeboats and lifebelts is on all ships. It must come, and now is the time to begin, when the design of all aircraft is still in a condition of flux. Aircraft and their convenable life-saving gear ought to progress together, as they are complementary each to the other. To what splendid efficiency all that appertains to life-saving at sea has arrived, those who visited the Shipping Exhibition, just ended at Olympia, can judge for themselves. But stand- ing still and doing nothing, as the Air Ministry is, is not the way to arrive at efficiency in life-saving in the air. The Air Ministry say they have no money for the purpose. What do our legislators say to this ? E. R. CALTHROP, M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E. V
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