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Aviation History
1922
1922 - 0678.PDF
rHES NOVEMBER 16, 1922 Married EDWARD MORTON DRUMMOND, Black Watch, attached R.A.F., eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Drummond, of Dayleside, Woodford, Essex, was married on November 9 at the Chapel Royal, Savoy, to DAPHNE, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. WILFRID TAYLOR, of Mitre Court Chambers, Temple, London, E.C. 4. Flt.-Lieut. THOMAS HENDERSON, M.C., son of the late Mr. Thomas Henderson and of Mrs. Henderson, of Tynemouth, was married on November 9, at the Chapel Royal, Savoy, to EDITH SYLVIA, daughter of the late Mr. ALEXANDER DEUCHAR and of Mrs. Deuchar, of Rodney Court, W. 9. Sqdn.-Ldr. A. S. Morris was best man. Brigadier-General GUY LIVINGSTONE, C.M.G., late of the R.A.F., was married on November 14. at St. Martin's Registry Office, London, W.C., to Mrs. DIVA AMELIA PRIMROSE, formerly the wife of Mr. A. B. Primrose, of New York. To be Married The engagement is announced, and the marriage will shortly take place, between Flight Lieut. ROBERT HUGH HANMER, M.C., R.A.F., eldest son of the Rev. Hugh and Mrs. Hanmer, The Rectory, Whitchurch, Salop, and MARY HELEN, youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. NATHANIEL SPENS, Palace Gate Mansions, 29, Palace Gate, W. 8. The engagement is announced between Capt. A. M. WAISTELL, D.S.C. (R.A.F., retired), youngest son of the late Mr. Charles Waistell, Northallerton, Yorks., and Mrs. Waistell, Totland Bay, I.W., and HONORA MARY, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. H. CHRISTIAN, Droxford,. Hants. The marriage will take place in India early in March. H H .13 H THE GRAND PRIX DE PARIS AT present it appears as if the Grand Prix de Paris, for commercial aeroplanes, will prove a failure. Only five machines were entered, and of these one arrived too late to be admitted to the competition. A second machine crashed and killed its pilot, leaving but three machines, of which one is a sporting rather than a commercial type. The following brief particulars of the machines may be of interest :— No. 1, Caudron biplane, type C.74, 4-300 h.p. Hispano- Suiza (Poiree). Length, ,57 ft. 6 ins.; span, 82 ft. ; area, 1,400 sq. ft. No. 3, Farman biplane, type F.90, 300 h.p. Salmson (Bossoutrot). Length, 30 ft. 2 ins. ; span, 46 ft. ; area 690 sq. ft. No. 4, Breguet biplane type 20 (Leviathan), four 225 h.p Breguet engines driving single tractor airscrew (Thiery) Length, 45 ft. 9 ins. ; span, 83 ft. 7 ins. ; area, 1,500 sq. ft. No. 5, twin-engined " Express-Mureaux," 2-370 h.p Lorraine-Dietrich (Labouchere). Length, 43 ft, 7 ins. ; span 68 ft. ; area, 1,330 sq. ft. (This machine is a French-built Vickers " Vimy Commercial.") No. 2, a three-engined Henry Potez, with 180 h.p. Hispano- Suiza engines, piloted by Douchy, arrived too late at Le Bourget to be admitted to the competition. It is under stood that the pilot lost his way in flying to Le Bourget, and was delayed to such an extent as to arrive too late. This is a pity, as the three-engined Potez, type X, is a well- built machine with good possibilities. The competition itself consisted of various tests for which points were given, as well as for general features thought to be desirable in commercial aeroplanes, and of flights over a 600-kilometres circuit. The preliminary tests and features were divided up as follows, points being given in each class: A, horse-power expenditure per passenger carried. B, Use of wireless tele phone during flight, up to a distance of at least 10 kilometres (6J miles). C, (a) Starting one engine in the air ; (b) starting all engines on the ground. D, Safety tests, mainly in the matter of taking off and climbing to a certain altitude, there doing turns and figures of eight. E, Starts and landings, the distances being measured and points awarded accordingly. The maximum number of points to be awarded are as follows : Speed, 400 ; safe flying, 250 ; power per passenger, 150 ; starting and landing, 75 ; starting the engines, 50 ; and use of wireless, 25 ; giving a total of 950 points. On the first two.days of the competition, November 10 and 11, the preliminary tests were carried out. Thiery, on the Breguet " Leviathan," obtained the following points : A, 25, B 25, C (a) 25 and (b) 25, D 250, and E 50, giving a total of 400 points. Bossoutrot, on the Farman, gained 275 points, composed as follows : A 150, B o, C (a) 25 and (fc) 25, D o, and E 75. Poiree, on the four-engined Caudron, was third with 200 points, as follows : A o, B not passed, C (a) 25, (b) 25, D 150, and E o. Labouchere, on the " Express-Mureaux," was last with 150 points, i.e., A 50, B 25, C (a) 25, (b) 25, D o, and E 25. Owing to bad weather, with fog and low clouds, tie two flights of 600 kilometres—one of which, with full loads and one compulsory landing; and the other, ov^r the same distance but with half-load and without landing—had to be postponed from day to day. On Tuesday, November 14, the weather was still unfavour able, but it was decided to run the first speed competition over a 43-kilometres circuit, which had to be covered fourteen times, with a compulsory landing at Le Bourget on the seventh lap. Poiree got away well with full load, and was on his fifth lap when, as he failed to return at the approximate time he was expected, a machine was sent out to look for him. The machine, on its return, brought the news that Poiree's machine had been seen crashed in a field at Villepinte, near Aulnay-sous-Bois. Later it was learned that the machine while travelling at considerable speed, had turned over in the air and crashed to the ground, the three occupants, Poiree and his two mechanics Courcy and Bobillier, being killed instantly. At the moment it is not certain what happened, but according to eye-witnesses, and an examination of the wreckage, the conclusion has been formed that one of the aft airscrews burst and damaged the fuselage, thus causing the machine to lose all controllability. An enquiry is being made which may throw more light on the cause of the sad accident, and may even prove this suggestion to be wrong. Poiree was one of the earlier French pilots, having flown long before the war. He did a great deal of work in Russia, but returned after the outbreak of the Tevolution, and had been piloting for the Caudron firm for a considerable period. Of the remaining three machines in the Grand Prix the Breguet " Leviathan " had to land a short distance from Le Bourget owing to petrol system trouble. Bossoutrot, on the Farman, and Labouchere, on the " Express-Mureaux," both completed the first half of their 600 kilometres, landing as presciibed at Le Bourget. On starting for the second half of the course, Labouchere discovered a leak in the water circulation of his Lorraine engines, and had to abandon the attempt. This left only Bossoutrot, who completed the course alone, his time for the 600 kilometres being 4 hrs. 7 mins. 121 sees. Thus the Grand Prix can scarcely be said to have been a success, and it may be questioned whether it was wise to- hold this competition at this time of the year, when fogs and unfavourable weather are to be expected. We sincerely sympathise with the Caudron company, and with French aviation generally, in the sad loss which has befallen them. As one of the objects of the Grand Prix was to attract public attention to aviation, it is to be feared that more harm than good has been done by the accident, which cost three men their lives. Simultaneously with, but entirely separate from, the Grand Prix de Paris for commercial machines, was to have been flown a squadron competition for military machines, piloted by service pilots, but owing to bad weather these were postponed. They were to consist of speed races over two laps of the Circuit of Paris : Le Bourget, Cormeilles, Toussus- le-Noble, Orly, Chelles, Le Bourget, giving a total distance of 200 kilometres. The machines were to be started off in squadrons. 678 •
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