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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0342.PDF
MAY 20, 1926 In the meantime, increasing our fleet, I had taken over two Avros of the Southern Aviation Company, flown by Messrs. R. H. Leavy and H. Lawscm. On Sunday, the 9th, this augmented fleet flew 3,500 miles, delivering many thousands of papers to Birmingham, Ports- mouth, Norwich, Bournemouth, and Brighton. On that day, too, I had yet another machine—a D.H.9 from A.D.C. Aircraft, Ltd.—fitted with one of the new 330 h.p. ' Nimbus " engines and piloted bv Mr. H. H. Perry. That day, in addition to all the places previously mentioned, we delivered to Nottingham, Taunton, and Oxford. And again all the 'planes returned that night to Lympne. On Tuesday, still working from Lympne, we covered all the previous ground with the addition of Brooklands and Cambridge. On Wednesday, still functioning with absolute reliability, although weather conditions which were most adverse had been encountered, our fleet repeated all the deliveries of the previous day, with the addition of a load to Spittlegate, for Grantham. ' On Thursday, again without a hitch, we delivered all our loads. Then a new demand arose. An emergency edition of the Daily Mail was being printed in the West of England, and there was an urgent need for distribution 'planes at Plymouth. I obtained from Mr. F. J. V. Holmes, managing director of the Berkshire Aviation Company, the use of four Avros for this purpose. These machines were flown by Messrs. Beck, Stirling, Parkinson, and Le Lu. The distribution of this West of England edition also necessitated the establishment of another air base, and Messrs. Westland Aircraft Works very kindly put at our disposal their aerodrome at Yeovil. At the same time our delivery fleet was still further augmented, additional D.H.9's being provided by A.D.C. Aircraft, Ltd. One of our urgent problems now was the provision of more pilots. Flying Officer N. Vincent, of the R.A.F., home on leave from Iraq, volunteered to fly one of these additional machines. Another volunteer was Mr. Leslie Hamilton. At the same time we were accorded the use of yet another aerodrome—that of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, at Filton, and, the demand for machines still continuing, the Bristol Company placed at my disposal a Puma-engined Bristol machine, which Mr. W. Uwins, their test pilot, arranged at a moment's notice to fly. Other pilots who flew this machine on numerous journeys were Messrs. P. T. Holmes and C. R. L. Shaw. Our strength was also re-inforced by Mr. Openshaw, the Westland test-pilot, and, while referring to pilots, one should further acknowledge the assistance we received from Squad- ron Leader M. E. A. Wright, and Messrs. F. E. N. St. Barbe, F. D. Travers, and A. S. White. Mr. J. C. Joynt had now taken over the duties of transport officer at Yeovil. Here great numbers of the West of England Daily Mail, after being rushed through the night by motor-car, arrived for wide- spread aerial distribution in the early hours of the morning. Many came up to London by aeroplane. Others were air- borne to destinations varying from day to day. Cardiff, Swansea and the South Wales district were served by our newspaper-planes, getting their Daily Mail before 7 o'clock in the morning. Such places as Bristol and Gloucester were also on our list. In addition to machines I have already mentioned, three Avros of the Surrey Flying Services were placed at the disposal of the Daily Mail, while Col. Henderson, in a D.H.9, must have flown nearly 10,000 miles in his aerial deliveries. Altogether, reckoning the craft under my personal control, and the journeys by Imperial Airways and Air Union 'planes and others, it is a fair estimate that in this newspaper tran- sport a total distance of not far short of 100,000 miles was flown. One of the chief lessons emerging from our experiences, during work never attempted on such a scale before, is the wonderful mobility of the aeroplane. Constantly, like a General Staff in war, the directors of the Daily Mail were extending and improving their plans, and effecting aerial distributions in wider areas. To meet their varying needs we had not only to fly long distances daily in all directions, but we had frequently to change over part of our fleet from one aerodrome to another. The Avros, for instance, would on receipt of a telephone instruction, be switched over from, say, Plymouth to Yeovil, and our squadron of faster D.H.9's sent to" replace them at Plymouth. And all such re-arrange- ments were effected without interrupting for a moment the daily air deliveries, which began as early as 4 a.m. It was with the same efficiency that we overcame all sorts of minor troubles. In one case, caught in a hailstorm, the propeller of one of our planes was split. By the swift co- operation of A.D.C. Aircraft and of the De Havilland Com- pany a spare propeller was rushed down to the machine at Yeovil by air, and it was in flight again with a minimum of delay. On one or two occasions machines which were due in Yeovil or Plymouth at 4 a.m. were not able to get away from London, where they were delivering, until 6 p.m. on the previous evening. Yet they were all in position again at the hour stated. Xo praise could be too high for the skill and endurance shown by the pilots. At a moment's notice they undertook and completed without a hitch, flights over countrv and to destinations with which they were unfamiliar. Merely as feats of navigation many of these rush flights were extra- ordinarily fine. And so was the dexterity shown in alighting in, and ascending from, all sorts of temporary landing-grounds. Of course, in such a big scheme amusing things happened. One very young aviator, who had only just taken his ticket, and who happened to be on the 'drome when the regular [" FLIGHT " Photograph " F.F.V." : A Vickers " Virginia " surveys Central London during the Great Strike. 296
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