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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0468.PDF
"ARMY CO-OP.": One of the Bristol Fighters (School of Army Co-operation) which took part in the Message-picking-up competition.j It was certainly an interesting race, but unfortunately, it was not easy to follow, especially as at the same time the race was in progress the "new and experimental " machines set forth on their taxi-past the enclosures. However, the result of the race was—(1) Organisation and Staff Duties ; (2) Operations and Intelligence ; (3) Equipment. The parade and fly-past of new and experimental machines was certainly the most interesting of any given at the R.A.F. Displays. No fewer than sixteen different types were demon- strated, and it was a convincing demonstration of the progress that has taken place in aircraft design. The machines taking part were as follows :—Hill " Pterodactyl " (Bristol " Cherub ") ; Blackburn " Sprat " deck-landing and sea- plane training (Rolls-Royce " Falcon ") ; Yickers " Vendace " of similar class (Rolls-Royce " Falcon ") ; Gloster " Gor- cock," single-seater fighter (Napier " Lion ") ; Hawker •' Hornbill " ditto (Rolls-Royce " Condor IV ") ; Avro " Avenger " ditto (Napier " Lion ") ; Fairey " Firefly " ditto (Fairey " Felix ") ; Armstrong Whitworth " Atlas " Army Co.-Op. (Siddeley "Jaguar IV ") ; Bristol " Boarhound " Army Co-op. (Bristol Jupiter VI) ; De Havilland " Hyena " Army Co.-Op (Siddeley "Jaguar IV ") ; Vickers " Vespa " Army Co.-Op (Bristol " Jupiter VI ") ; Fairey " Fox " day bomber (Fairey " Felix ") ; Hawker " Horsley " day bomber (Rolls- Royce "Condor III"); Avro " Ava " night bomber and coastal torpedo landplane (two Rolls-Royce " Condor III ") ; Armstrong -Whitworth " Argosy " civil air transport (three Siddeley " Jaguar IV ") ; Cierva " Autogvro " (Avro) re- search (Clerget). All these machines were in the air together, zooming,banking and neck-cricking—but it must be admitted that all eyes were turned for most of the time on the two " funnymen " of the show, the " Autogyro " and the " Pterodactyl/' Courtney on the former and Flight-Lieut. Chick on the latter,both gave fascinating demonstrations of the really remarkable qualities of these two aero—er—machines. Courtney's" stand clear of the gates, please " evolutions were almost unbelievable. After these sixteen machines had landed (descended in the case of the Auto-gee and the how-do-you-spell-it), 'one or two, we understand, having experienced forced landings outside the aerodrome, the fourth event started. This was the low-bombing competition for a Challenge Cup presented by Capt. the Hon. F. E. Guest, C.B.E., D.S.O. Although, perhaps, not quite so thrilling as the similar event last year it was, in, a way more interesting in that No. 19 Fighter Sqdn'. 406 JULY 8, 1926 (" Grebes ") under Sqdn.-Leader H. W. G. Jones, M.C., hadto carry out its attack on a moving " tank." The same "all-direction" swooping tactics were employed as lastyear, but with rather less frequency. Most of the bombs fell well within the " damage zone " while several direct hits werescored. The next item on the programme was the demonstration ofair manoeuvres by wireless—which was a popular feature last year. This year the event took a rather different formand carried with it a sort of story :—The pilots of No. 25 Fighter Sqdn. (" Grebes ") were assembled on the aerodromein front of their machines ; the " Alarm " was given by a long blast on a Klaxon, upon which they rushed to their machinesstarted up, and took off in formation, under Sqdn.-Leader A. H. Peck. D.S.O., M.C, After a short interval the GroundStation (call sign " Fantail ") issued orders to the squadron •(" Mosquito ") leader, who acknowledged their reception.All this, by the way, was distinctly audible on the afore- mentioned loud speakers. ^ The Squadron then went through a variety of evolutions" on the word of command " by radio. Back and forth they flew across the aerodrome, a different formation each time,and generally " right about turning " by means of simultaneous loops or rolls. After this inspiring display there was a race for R.A.F. Reserve of Officers. This was on Bristol Fighters, over a course of 10 miles, and produced five competitors from the following training centres—Bristol Aeroplane Co., Bristol, F.-O. S. Jones, A.F.C. ; Armstrong-Whitworth ' Aircraft' Coventry, F-O. R. C. Berlyn ; William Beardmore, Glasgow ; F.-O. S. C. O'Grady, M.C. ; North Sea and General Transport Leeds, F.-O. S. B. Atkinson ; and De Havilland Aircraft, London, Fit.-Lieut. W. W. Wakefield. As in the previous race, it was rather difficult to follow, but the result was : 1. London; 2. Coventry; 3. Glasgow. The next event was an exhibition of evolutions by a group of two wings of two Bombing Squadrons of nine "machines each, made up as follows:—No. 11, Netheravon, Sq.-Ldr. E. A. B. Rice, M.C., and No. 12, Andover, Sq.-Ldr. T. E. Salt, A.F.C. (both Fairey " Fawns," Napier " Lions ") ; No. 39, Spittlegate, Sq. Ldr. H. V. C. de Crespigny, M.C., D.F.C., and No. 207, Eastchurch, Sq.-Ldr. J. B. Graham, M.C., A.F.C. (both D.H.9A "Liberties"). As regards this event, which was a feature in last year's Display, it only remains for us to say that the evolutions were carried out with truly marvellous regularity and uniformity, if anything, rather better than last year. After this came the Set Piece—during which the Royal Party made a tour of inspection of the machine park. The " Story " this year was the combined attack on a hostile aerodrome by fighters and day bombers. It commenced with a low bombing attack with light bombs by the fighters, which followed up with a machine-gun attack to silence the ground defences. Next came along, higher up, the day bombers, with the fighters above them in attendance. The bombers then very effectively finished off the aerodrome and previously- damaged aircraft. The final event of the day was the Instructors' Competitionfor a Cup presented by H.R.H. The Duke of York, open to one instructor from the flying training schools and Schoolof Technical Training (Apprentices). The competitors were : Nos. 1 (Netheravon), 2 (Digby) and 3 (Sealand) TrainingSchools ; Central Flying School (Upavon) ; No. 24 (Kenly) ; School of Technical Training (Halton) ; and R.A.F. CadetCollege (Cranwell). Each competitor had to climb to 1,500 ft. on an Avro 504 K, execute one loop, one half-roll, and threeturns of a spin, then descending with engine off and land on a given mark. This was a purely technical event, butnone-the-less interesting—even, apparently, to those spec- tators who could hardly be expected to understand thetechnicalities of the proceedings. The quality of the per- formance of each competitor was extremely high, and thejudges must have had a hard time of it in giving their decision, which was as follows—(1) Central Flying School ; (2) No. 1Training School, Netheravon. (3) No. 2 Training School, Digby. Just as the remaining spectators—still many thousands strong—started on their journey home, the first of the night bombing squadrons made its appearance, returning for the finish of the long-distance race. This squadron proved to be No. 99 (Bircham Newton (H.P. " Hyderabads "), which had made steady progress throughout the 500 miles. Then, at varying intervals the other squadrons returned home. No, 7, which started one short, came in intact, but Nos. 9 and 58 had both lost two machines en route Final placings were :—(1) No. 99. (2) No. 7. (3) No. 9. (4) No. 58. And so ended.one of the finest flying displays ever produced.
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