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Aviation History
1923
1923 - 0597.PDF
OCTOBER 4, 1923 able angle, and the machine began to lift, sinking back againand rising again. The movement was evidently a form of " porpoising," although the machine did not give the appear-ance of pitching to any considerable extent, but rather rose and sank bodily without much pitching, hitting the sea witha series of resounding smacks. In a few seconds the " Pellet " •was seen to begin to turn to starboard slowly. The starboard~^wing tip float touched, and the machine turned over on its nose and sank. For what seemed a very long time there was- no sign of the pilot, and fears were entertained that he had not been able to extricate himself. Suddenly, however, heappeared, bobbing up like a cork, and climbing on top of the wreck was picked up by one of the many motor launches whichsped to his assistance as soon as the crash occurred. He promptly fainted on getting safely on to the wreckage, butwas soon revived and brought back to his hotel, nursed by Mrs. Ken worthy, who. was in the motor launch Vivid whichwas among those standing by. He had had quite a marvellous escape, and seemed none the worse for his experience. It wasstated that someone actually timed Kenworthy, who was said to have been under water for 61 seconds. He later relatedhow, when the machine turned turtle, he found himself inside the cockpit with his head on the floor and his feet pointingtowards the cockpit opening, which he could dimly see. Holding his nose with one hand he wriggled free and shot tothe surface. With the Blackburn " Pellet " crashed (she was broughtashore during the night, by the way, and brought back to the Saunders' sheds by ubiquitous Mr. Newman) Britain wasreduced to one representative, the Supermarine " Sea Lion III," and the chances of retaining the Schneider Trophy werenot considered over bright, although many things might happen to improve the situation. Towards evening themajority of the machines were brought up to the sheds, having finished their six hours at a buoy, but the twoAmericans decided to stay at their buoys uritil the.next tide, while the Latham was brought as far in as the mud wouldallow, and left there until there was sufficient water to float her to the slipways. The RaceOn the morning of the Schneider Race itself, Friday, September 28, the weather was exceptionally fine, with brightsunshine and a calm sea. The early merning showed signs of wind, and during the forenoon the wind freshened somewhat,although at no time up to and during the race did the sea get up to such an extent as to inconvenience to the slightestdegree any of the competitors. It had been decided that the American machines shouldstart first, followed 15 minutes later by the Supermarine, and the French to go 15 minutes after the British boat.Promptly at 11 a.m. the signal was given, and the two Navy- Curtiss racers, Nos. 3 and 4, taxied across the starting line,No. 3 (Irvine) slightly ahead of No. 4 (Rittenhouse). No. 3 made a right-hand turn and No. 4 a left-hand turn, accordingto instructions, so that the machines should not get in one another's way. Flying at a terrific speed the two machineswere soon lost to sight in the direction of Selsey Bill, the first turning point. On the Victoria Pier a number of spectators had gathered,timekeepers and other officials occupying the corner nearest to the inner mark boat, and press representatives a smallenclosure immediately behind the official one. Brigadier- General F. L. Festing, C.B., C.M.G., had agreed to act asPress Steward, and, needless to say, he fulfilled his task with efficiency and courtesy. The Press duly appreciated thehonour shown its representatives by appointing such a dis- tinguished Press Steward, and at the finish of the proceedingsthe General was thanked for his very charming stewardship, and the hope expressed that he would frequently acceptsimilar duties in the future. Lining the promenade were thousands of spectators, whofrom this point of vantage obtained nearly as good a view as •did those more favoured who saw the race from the pier orfrom yachts. Several large yachts and launches dotted the anchorage, among which was noticed a Royal Air Forcelaunch. The British Navy, which had been unrepresented on the day before, suddenly disclosed itself in the form of a" P " boat, while America was, of course, represented by the U.S.A. Pittsburg, and the French Navy by the Verdun andthe C57. However, to return to the race. Biard, on the Supermarine" Sea Lion III," had taxied out, and was waiting for the starting signal a few minutes before 11.15. To the surpriseof everyone a small dark speck appeared in the direction of Southsea, the second turning point. From the speed withwhich this speck approached there could be -no doubt that it was one of the American machines. And yet this seemed impossible, as it would seem to mean that the Americanmachine must cover the course in 15 minutes, which would give a speed of considerably over 170 m.p.h. As it approached,however, the number 4 on the rudder could be distinguished, and Ritteahouse swung around the mark boat just as Biardcrossed the starting line on the " Sea Lion III." Biard naturally had to climb and make a 180° turn (as he wasstarting from east to west), and so the Curtiss-Navy was well away on its second lap by the time the British boat washeaded for Selsey. After a few minutes it was announced that Biard had been disqualified, as he was stated to havecrossed the line in flight instead of taxying. After a consulta- tion between the officials, however, it was decided that,although the Supermarine had been off the sea, it had dropped again, and was actually in contact with the water at the timeof crossing the line. In the meantime Biard, all unsuspecting that there was any query about his start, was speeding overthe course. No. 3, the Curtiss-Navy piloted by Irvine, passed the markboats about 20 seconds behind Rittenhouse, and commenced his second lap, some distance ahead of Biard. The Frenchteam was due to start at 11.30, and theC.A.M.S. and Latham were seen taxying to the east, getting into position for theirstart. While they were cruising about the first of the Americans, No. 4, rounded the mark boats on vhe completionof his second lap, which had taken but 14 mms 22.5 sees. He was followed some 20 sees, later by No. 3, who had taken14 mins. 43 sees. Then the starting signal for the three French machines wasgiven, but only No. 9, the C.A.M.S. 38 piloted by Hurel, crossed the starting line. The other two machines were introuble, one having fouled a buoy and the other suffering from engine trouble. Thus France was on a level footingwith Britain as regards the number of representatives. Shortly after the start of No. 9 Biard came thundering alongand rounded the mark boats in fine style, his turn giving an impression of perfect mastery. He was, however, found tohave taken 17 mins. Mi- sees, for his first lap, and was thus, unless he had something up his sleeve, very much slowerthan the Americans. The C.A.M.S. 38 rounded the mark boats after an intervalof 19 mins. 42f sees., and was thus evidently much slower than the Supermarine, and hopelessly outclassed in com-parison with the American machines. As it turned out, the C.A.M.S. never returned again to the starting point, havingbeen forced to come down in the vicinity of Selsey Bill owing to engine trouble. This left only three machines in the race,the two Curtiss-Navy racers and the " Sea Lion III." The British boat was found to be improving its speed with eachlap, but so were the Americans, and it soon became evident that, except for unforeseen accidents to both the Americans,the British defender could not possibly win. The times taken for each of the five laps were as follows :No. 4: 15.06*, 14.22! T, 14.24-f, 14.22i, 14.Hi. No. 3:15.27|, 14.43, 14.42, 14.43, 14.29f No. 7 (the Supermarine) : 17.11|, 16.13|, 16.12|, 16.9*, 15.59.It is curious to note that both No. 3 and No. 4 covered their second and fourth laps in exactly the same time. The lastlap of the winner was covered at a speed of 181 • 17 m.p.h., while Biard's fastest lap (the last) was covered at a speed of161 m.p.h. The total time taken to cover the five laps of the course (214-3 land miles) was 1 h. 12 m. 26| s. by No. 4(Rittenhouse); 1 h. 14 m. 5^ s. by No. 3 (Irvine); and 1 h. 21 m. 46 s. by No. 7 (Biard). The average speeds workedout as follows : Rittenhouse, 177-38 m.p.h. ; Irvine, 173-46 m.p.h. ; and Biard, 151 • 16 m:p.h." It will be noticed that thespeeds gradually increased with each lap, the competitors gradually opening their throttles fully as they became con-vinced the engines would stand the pace. At this point we must lodge a strong protest—our onlycomplaint in connection with the whole race. Only one of the machines competing in the race had the decency to keepwithin the limits of the graph published in FLIGHT last weekfor the (it had been hoped) easy determination of the speeds being made, from a timing of the competitors over one lapof the course. Capt. Biard on his Supermarine stayed well within the limits, but the others were right outside the graph,which had as its upper speed limit 170 m.p.h. and as its lower 150 m.p.h. The Americans, except for Irvine's first lap, wentoutside the graph at one end, and the C.A.M.S. went right off the map at the opposite corner. Next time we shall extendthe graph to cover a range of from 30 m.p.h. to 300 m.p.h., then perhaps we shall gather them all in. Our TechnicalEditor, who was rather pleased with himself over his graph, was in a duly chastened frame of mind when he discoveredhow fast the Americans were travelling. As the writer of these notes took the 1.30 boat from Cowes 597
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