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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0507.PDF
AUGUST 6, 1925 was not quite as good as it might have been. The first event•was the International Handicap (100kmiles^,open to all aeroplanes, without restriction on engine weight. As a very large number of entries had been received, thisevent was flown in two heats and a final, the first heat com- mencing at 10 a.m. AN A.D.C. GROUP : Mr. Perry, Major Stewart and Capt. Walker, standing by the A.D.C.l, on which Perry and Longton gave exhibition flights. The machines entered for the first heat were :— Pilot. Machine and Engine. Handicap. m. s.Bulman , . Hawker " Cygnet " ; Bristol " Cherub ' 38 46 Boyes .. D.H.53, "Scorpion " 33 33Pafkcr .. Short " Satellite "; Bristol " Cherub " 32 45 Chick .. Farnborough "Hurricane"; Bristol 29 11 " Che nil) "King .. Sopvith " Gnu " ; 110 I.e Rhone .. 20 56 Holmes .. Bristol " Lucifer" 20 10 Hinkler .. Avro " Lynx " .. .. .. .. 9 54Campbell.. Bristol" Bloodhound "; Bristol" Jupi- 1 8 ter " Hamilton Martinsyde F.6, " Viper " .. . . Scratch There were two non-starters in this event : Boyes on the D.H.53 (G-EBHZ) and Parker on the Short " Satellite." All of the machines got away without any trouble, andnearly all the pilots made excellent turns. Chick on the Farnborough " Hurricane " gave up after covering the firstlap, but the remaining six machines covered the course. The race had not been long in progress before it became evidentthat Holmes on the Bristol "Lucifer" school machine was flying an excellent race and was rapidly gaining on his rivals.It was equally obvious that Hamilton on the Martinsyde F.6 was handicapped right out of the race, nor did the fact thathe appeared to fly a rather bad course tend to improve his chances. This applied particularly to the earlier laps, andas time went on Hamilton's course got better and better, so that one received the impression that when he started in therace he was not very familiar with the course and the turning points. Bulman on the Hawker " Cygnet " also flew a remarkablvgood course, and covered his laps with extraordinary regu- larity, shortening each lap-time by a few seconds. It becameclear that if Bulman's engine would stand up to the work, the race was likely to be a very close one between Bulman andHolmes. Campbell on the Bristol " Bloodhound " appeared at first to have been somewhat unfairly handicapped, but aslap followed lap it was discovered that he was rapidly over- taking the machines in front of him. Hinkler on the Avro" Lynx " was not making the headway he should have been, assuming the handicapping to be correct, and as he wasobviously flying a very good course and losing nothing at the turns, it would seem that the handicapper had been somewhatoptimistic as to the speed of the Avro " Lynx." With so many pilots doing really excellent cornering it is very difficultto single out any particular one, but we think that perhaps the prettiest of all were the turns made by King on the Sopwith" Gnu." It is literally true to say that King, turning with his left wing tip two or three feet from the ground, never wasteda foot on his turns. Bulman on the " Cygnet " was lapping at approximately 75 m.p.h., and right up to about half-wayin the last lap it seemed to be a toss-up whether he or Holmes on the " Lucifer " would come in first. Bulman ultimatelyproved to be the winner, with Holmes on the " Lucifer " second, and Campbell on the " Bloodhound " third.Hamilton on the Martinsyde F.6 was so badly out of it that he flew his last lap all alone, the rest of the machines havingalready covered the course, and landed. The second heat of the International Handicap commenced.it liciiin and had drawn the following list of entrants :— Pilot. Machine and Iviigtne. Handicap,m. s. Cherub " 40 20. . 32 45 . . 24 36. . 24 36 . . 22 31. . 21 31 ..15 541 44 Twins .. Bristol" Brownie"; Bristol Kaparlier Pander type ]>, Anzani . .Broad . . D.H.60 " Moth," " Cirrus " Coliham .. D.H.60 " Moth." " Cirrus "Courtney. . " Pixie II." Blackburne Comper' . . C.L.A.3, Bristol " Cherub "Youell . . Airdisco " Avro," Airdisco Phillips . . Sopwith " Scooter," Clerget The number of machines in this heat was reduced to eightby the non-starting of four competitors : Douglas on thr li.H.53, Haig mi the " Pixie III," Kingwill on the " Wee Bee,"and James on the A.N.K.C. From a spectacular point of view, this race was, perhaps,the most interesting event of the meeting : the machines repeatedly getting bunched together at the aerodrometurning point. On one occasion a collision in the air was narrowly averted. Youell on the Airdisco " Avro " reachedthe turning point about one length ahead, followed by Cobham on one of the " Moths," and by Uwins on the " Brownie,"these two being almost side by side as they swung round the tent, and were closely followed by Broad on the other " Moth."During the actual turn round the tent Cobham had apparently intended to cut his corner as line as possible, but so hailUwins, and as the latter came in first, Cobham,- who was slightly below Uwins' starboard wing, had to give way, themachines getting uncomfortably close together, Cobham's upper left wing tip being underneath Uwins right wing tip.Apparently Cobham saw the danger in time, and he swung to the right slightly to avoid a collision. All this, of course,happened in the space of a couple of seconds, and but for the fact that the writer of these notes happened to be standingat the actual turning point at' the time, it is doubtful if the incident would have been observed, and it is unlikely that theactual position was realised by those in the enclosures. IN TOUCH WITH THE TURNING POINTS : Col.Bristow in the wireless tent sending instructions to the observers at Postling and Hastingleigh. Uwins on the Bristol " Brownie " was as usual makingperfect turns, as were also Broad and Cobham on the two " Moths," both flying fairly low, and Cobham particularlyso. Broad got into a position shortly behind Cobham, in which it was somewhat difficult for him to cut his cornersquite as close as he might otherwise have done. Courtney on the " Pixie II " was doing vertically-banked turns in 507
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