FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0471.PDF
AUGUST 9, 1923 the aerobatics of " Roll-o'Haig," as he was soon nick- named. The Gnosspelius" Gull " had been promised as an attraction, but did not putin an appearance. It was afterwards learned that themachine had landed en route to Croydon, apparently withengine trouble. This was a great disappointment, as manyhad hoped to see this inteiest- ing machine in flight. At fhis point it seems ap-propriate to insert a few notes relating to the organisation.The " scoring boards " in the enclosures had been kept verysimple and plain, rather than attempt to make them tooelaborate and consequently difficult to understand. Aseach competitor passed a turning-point the fact waswirelessed to the enclosure, when the announcement wasmade through a megaphone. Thus from Brooklands thepassing-over of a competitor was, on the average, announcedtwo minutes after the passing, which was very creditableindeed. From the other turning points also camereports, so that, on the whole, it was quite easy to follow theprogress of the race. This fact was greatly appreciated,particularly by the Press, whose representatives have•sometimes on previous occa- sions had some difficulty inobtaining reliable information. Although a certain number of Press representatives were permitted on the aerodrome, inorder to take photographs, there was never a crowd, and at no time was there any risk of people getting in the way ofmachines. Everything went off smoothly, and the Royal Aero Club are to be congratulated on the organisation of thisyear's Aerial Derby. The Avro Baby passing Croydon on its second lap inthe Aerial Derby, whilst below is the Sopwith-Hawker machine still awaiting its turn to start under itshandicap time. . ., With this little digression—which appears to be called for, as we have on occasion foltobliged to criticise certain shortcomings in organisation—let us return to the meeting. Just as the last of the BristolFighters left the aerodrome the first two Derby racershove in sight. For some time it was impossible to distin-guish who was leading, and it was not until he was near thefinishing line that it was possible to identify the leaderas Hamersley on the Avro " Viper." It was then 4.19.20,and Hamersley was obviously the winner of the handicap.He was followed a little over a minute later by Perry on theD.H.9A, and less than one minute after that again thethird man home, Woodhouso on the Boulton and Paul P.9,crossed the finishing line. That settled the speculationas to the result oi the handi- cap, but there was still theDerby to be decided, and as yet it was not known whetherthe " Gloster " c r the Sopwith- Hawker would win. Thelatter machine was not thought to have anything likethe speed of the " Gloster," but one never knew. At4.23.25 all doubts were set at rest by Carter thunderingacross the line on the " Gloster," hailed with cheersfrom the crowds. After making a circle of the aerc-drome Carter landed the winner at a terrific speed, bat made a very good landing,although the machine ran along right up to the front of the enclosure before coming to a standstill. When Cartergot out of the machine it was seen that he was smothered in oil from a leaky oil pipe, it was gathered, and heseemed pretty exhausted. And small wonder. It is no THE AERIAL DERBY : Hamersley, the winner of the Derby Handicap, crossing the line on his Avro 200 Viper machine. On the right are Mr. A. V. Roe and Capt. H. A. Hamersley immediately after the race. . . 471
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
