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Aviation History
1925
1925 - 0642.PDF
Mr. Hinkler said they felt with Commander Bird, that the less said before the event the better, but they greatly appre- ciated the honour of having been chosen to represent Great Britain in the race for the Schneider Cup. Capt. Hubert Broad was late in getting on board, and thus his views could not be ascertained. The reception then came to a finish, and the party had to leave the ship, as time for departure was drawing near. Most of the party, however, waited on the quay until the Minnewaska sailed, and the time was spent in good-humoured chaff. The departing team amused themselves by throwing coins to those waiting on the quay, and in the scrum the Secretary of the Royal Aero Club did rather well. Mr. A. V. Roe, who had at the last minute decided to accompany the team, launched some very successful paper gliders, and then the gangway was brought ashore and tugs took the Minne- waska in tow and slowly proceeded towards the river, the assembled company giving the British team a rousing cheer. The British Schneider Cup Team Most of the members of the British Schneider Cup team will be well known to British readers of FLIGHT, but for the benefit of American readers, many of whom will probably see a good deal of the British team during the next few weeks, a few words concerning those of its members travelling on the Minnewaska, may be of interest, and we trust the follow- ing brief notes, which may be regarded as an introduction to our American friends, will serve as a useful " Who's Who." Captain C. B. W'ilson, M.C., who is captaining the British Schneider Cup team, is the Royal Aero Club's representative, and, incidentally, is one of the earliest members of the Club. Captain Wilson joined the 10th Hussars, with whom he served in India and later on the Western front in 1914. In 1915, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, and went through a course of training at the Central Flying School at Upavon. Captain Wilson helped to form the 15th Squadron of the R.F.C., with whom he went to France in 1915. He was shot down in 1916 and remained a prisoner of war until the end of hostilities. Apart from his war service, Captain Wilson has always been interested in gliding, and he entered a glider for the 1922 meeting at Itford. He also presented a prize at this year's light 'plane meeting at Lympne. He is a member of the racing committee of the Royal Aero Club. Capt. H. C. Biard, who will pilot the Supermarine-Napier S.4, is one of our earliest pilots, having obtained his pilot's certificate as long ago as 1912, at' the Graham White School at Hendon. It is doubtful whether there is another pilot in England to-day who obtained his ticket so long ago and who is still flying regularly. During the war. Captain Biard served with the Royal Naval Air Service, and since the war he has been employed as chief test pilot to the Supermarine Aviation Works. It will be recalled that it was Capt. Biard who, in 1922, won the Schneider Cup Race at Naples on a Supermarine-Napier flying boat, and in the following year Capt. Biard was the only British competitor to complete the course at Cowes, when the Cup was won by the American aviator, Lieut. Rittenhouse. Capt. Hubert Broad, who will pilot the Gloster-Napier III., learned to fly in 1915, and joined the R.N.A.S. at Dunkirk. He later returned to England and joined 46 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. He went to France with his Squadron and was wounded in an air fight over Cambrai. Responsible for bringing down six enemy aircraft, Capt. Broad returned home just before the Armistice to act as an instructor in England, and was awarded the AFC. Following upon the conclusion of the war, he joined A. V. Roe & Co. for a time, and then paid a visit to the United States, where he flew a number of different types of machines. On his return, Capt. Broad joined the De Havilland Aircraft Company, with whom he has been ever since. As chief test pilot to this firm, Capt. Broad has flown all manner of types, from large com- mercial aeroplanes to small single-seater light 'planes, and he has flown in all something like 75 different types of aero- OCTOBER 1, 1925 planes. It may be recollected that Capt. Broad was nomi- nated last year as pilot of the Gloster machine entered for the Schneider Cup Race, and was piloting this machine when, owing to a damaged float, the machine sank, Capt. Broad having a narrow escape. Mr. Bert Hinkler came to England from his native country, Australia, during the War, and did excellent work in an Australian Squadron. After the War he bought an Avro " Baby" on which, in 1920, he started to fly to Australia. His first " hop " was to Turin, non-stop, a distance of 700 miles, and there he was advised that owing to the troubles in the East, it would not be advisable to fly through Iraq, and so he returned to this country. He later had his machine sent to Australia and flew from Sydney to Bundaberg, a distance of 800 miles, non-stop. On his return to this country he became chief test pilot to A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd. It may be men- tioned that among his many achievements, Bert Hinkler was the first pilot to take the 1,000 h.p. Avro Aldershot into the air. Although Mr. Hinkler has not before had experience of really fast racing machines, he has proved during a short period of practising at Felixstowe that he has the delicate touch required to handle these modern projectiles, and should the opportunity present itself, there is no reason to doubt that he will do well in the Schneider Cup Race. Mr. H. P. Folland, who is chief engineer and designer to the Gloucestershire Aircraft Co., was at the Royal Aircraft Factory (now the Royal Aircraft Establishment), at Farn- borough, before the War, where he was assistant designer to Capt. Geoffrey de Havilland. He thus had a good deal to do with the famous B.E. machines, and later on with the design of the S.E.Sa, which turned out to be one of the best fighting scouts in the Royal Air Force, and which is still used for sky-writing in the United States and elsewhere. In 1917 Mr. Folland joined the British Nieuport Company, for whom he designed the Nieuport " Nighthawk," which was ordered by the Air Ministry in vast quantities for the 1919 programme, but owing to the Armistice the machine was never used in large numbers by the R.A.F. In 1921 Mr. Folland joined the Gloucestershire Aircraft Co., with whom he has remained ever since, and in six weeks he designed and built the Gloster I (" Bamel "), which won the Aerial Derby of 1921 on its first flight. The same type of machine or its later development won the Aerial Derby in both 1922 and 1923. As chief designer to the Gloucestershire Aircraft Co. Mr. Folland has produced a variety of types, among which may be mentioned the Gloster " Grebe," with which several squadrons of the R.A.F. are equipped, and the " Gamecock " and the " Gaw- cock." For this year's Schneider Cup Race Mr. Folland has produced the Gloster-Napier III. Mr. R. J. Mitchell was born at Stoke-on-Trent in 1895, and there served his apprenticeship to engineering with Kerr, Stuart and Co., Ltd., later becoming assistant engineer. In 1917, Mr. Mitchell commenced his association with the Supermarine Aviation Works, and in 1920 was appointed chief engineer and designer. The Supermarine amphibian flying-boat which won second prize in the Air Ministry compe- titions at Martlesham in 1920 was produced by Mr. Mitchell. Other milestones marking the progress of his career since his association with the industry are : the Supermarine " Sea Lion," winner of the Schneider trophy in 1922 : the Super- marine " Seagull," used in large numbers by the Air Ministry as deck landing naval reconnaissance machines ; the Super- marine " Sea Eagle," the first civil amphibian flying boat ; the Supermarine " Swan," the first twin-engined amphibian flying boat designed for civil purposes, and the Supermarine " Sparrow " light aeroplane. The Supermarine " South- ampton," the latest type of boat built for the Air Ministry, was also designed by Mr. Mitchell, and the tribute of the Secretary of State for Air after a recent flight in this boat that it was " one of the best flying-boats that Great Britain has ever had," was not undeserved. Mr. Mitchell has, of course, also designed the Supermarine-Napier S.4., which is entered for this year's Schneider Cup Race at Baltimore. R.A.F. Medical Service Appointments in an accident on September 26. Tarascon, accompanied by THE Air Ministry announces :—His Majestv the King has the pilot Favreau, set out in the machine on September 25 been graciously pleased to approve of the following appoint- for an endurance flight over the Etampes-Chartres-Orleans- ments : Air Vice-Marshal David Munro, C.B., C.I.E., M.B., Etampes circuit, in an attempt to beat the world s distance M.A., F.R.C.S. (E.), to be an Honorary Surgeon to His record, and also with the object of testing qualities of machine " ' - - — - —-- .. - ancj engine. After having covered some 1,200 miles, they flew into a storm in the early hours of the second day, and coming down low to ascertain their position the machine collided with a tree and crashed in a wood at St. Lucien. Majesty ; Group-Captain Hardy Vesey Wells, C.B.E., to be an Honorary Physician to His Majesty. French Trans-Atlantic Machine Crashes THE Potez machine on which the French pilots Tarascon and Coli intended to fly from Paris to New York was destroyed The machine caught fire, but both pilots managed to escape with more or less minor injuries. 642
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