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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0506.PDF
INTERESTED SPECTATORS : Flight-Lieut. Lawson and Mr. C. R. Fairey. J. those officially recognised, and their results, being as follows :Cranwell C.L.A.3 ; speed over 3 kms., 139-89 km.h. (87 m.p.h.). Speed over 50 kms., 135-5 km.h. (84-25 m.p.h.)." Pixie II " : speed over 3 kms., 134-41 km.h. (83-6 m.p.h.) Speed over 50 kms., 137.38 km.h. (85-4 m.p.h.). A.N.E.C,speed over 50 kms. 134 01 km.h. (83-3 m.p.h.). In the altitude in 30 minutes test the Beardmore " WeeBee" reached 8,180 ft., the Hawker "Cygnet" 6,450 ft., and the Pander monoplane 4,500 ft. The greatest heightwithout time limit was attained by the " Wee Bee," being 11,800 ft. During Sunday afternoon a number of short races wereheld, which were not down on the programme. These were in the nature of private challenges, the first to be flownbeing between two De Havilland " Moths " over the course used for the 50-km, speed tests and consisting of two lapsof this course. One of the " Moths " (G-EBKU) was flown by Capt. Broad, and the other (G-EBKT) by Alan J. Cobham.As was to be expected, the race was a very close one. Both took off across wind, without any apparent difficulty, Cobhamflying very low indeed. The first time around Cobham got the lead, Broad losing a little on the turn, and in the finishCobham won by a short length, or by 6f seconds to be exact. A similar and very excellent race was between Sqdn.-Ldr.Haig on the " Pixie III " and Wing-Commander Douglas on the red D.H. 53 (G-EBHX). The pilots tossed for positionand Haig got the inside, thus gaining a slight advantage, which he made the most of in starting. This race was wonby Haig by such a short lead that Mr. Reynolds was unable to time the difference between the two machines in crossingthe finishing line, Haig's lead being estimated to be about 2 ft. ! Less interesting was a race between Broad on a" Moth "and Flight-Lieut. Chick on the " Hurricane." This race was of one lap only, and was won by a couple of lengthsby Broad, who scored heavily in the take-off and also, although to a smaller extent, in cornering. A most amusing race had been arranged between the largede Havilland 54 passenger machine with 650 h.p, Rolls- Royce " Condor "and a D.H. 53 with 10 h.p. Blackbiirne,but at tne Tasl moment it was discovered that the propeller of the 53 was split, and the race had to be changed to one AUGUST 6, 1925 between the 54 and a D.H, " Moth." This race consisted of \two laps of the 50 km. course (a total distance of about 21 \ miles), in which Cobham on the " Moth " received a start of V1 min. 59 sees, from Broad on the D.H. 54. Broad, by the \ way, was carrying a full complement of passengers. Cob- Jham's machine was naturally a good deal more manoeuvrable / than its " big brother," and he made splendid turns, although IBroad's cornering on the 54 was also good, considering the J size of the machine. The race was won by Broad at a speed Iof 166-41 km.-hr. (103-5 m.p.h.), while Cobham's spdX was 123 km.-hr. (76-6 m.p.h.). A race between Haig on the " Pixie III " and Chick onthe " Hurricane," in which Chick gave Haig 48 seconds start, was won by Chick by about one length. An exhibition of " crazy " flying was then given by Long-ton on the Martinsyde A.D.C. 1, and, as ever, Longton's flying was extremely amusing and occasionally exciting. Thegreatest excitement of all was provided at the finish, when, in coming in to land, Longton " lost his prop" (No, thepropeller did not come off in the air), and, being in danger of charging a fence, " hoiked " his machine over it in fine styleand came to rest somewhat bumpily, a couple of wires in the undercarriage being broken, but no other damage done. Shortly afterwards Courtney came out on the Armstrong-Whitworth " Siskin " and caused the spectators to gasp by his amazing manoeuvres, the most popular of which con-sisted in '- skating " across the aerodrome at low height on the side of the fuselage ; at any rate, no other part of themachine seemed capable of giving any lift in that attitude. With machines capable of vertical climbs, as the " Siskin "seems to be, why worry about helicopters ? M. Raparlier brought out the Pander monoplane and didstunts at a low height, but it was quite obvious that the engine was not giving anything like the power it should, as themachine did not fly nearly as strongly as the one which visited Croydon some time ago. It seemed a great pity that thelittle Pander should be handicapped in this fashion by a " dud " engine. While Raparlier was up, Mr. L. Tait Coxcame out on one of Major Savage's sky-writing S.E. 5's and proceeded to carry out various manoeuvres at a low heightemitting red " smoke " the while. It seems pretty safe to assume that never before has sky-writing been seen at such alow altitude, and to the technically minded there was a good deal of interest in watching the " hooks " formed by the smokeas a result of vortices produced by various manoeuvres. Monday, August 3.—A very extensive programme was planned for today, and, thanks to excellent weather, it was found possible to carry out the entire list without having to abandon any of the events scheduled. In order to enable the programme to be carried out, racing commenced at JO a.m., and consequently during the morning the attendance DISCUSSING THE CHANCES : Capt. Kingwill,pilorof the «' Wee Bee," in conversation with Mr. F. N. St. Barbe. 503
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