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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0760.PDF
OCTOBER 14, 1926 SIR ALAN COBHAM'S BUSY WEEK SINCE the conclusion of his historic England-Australia- England flight, Sir Alan J. Cobham has been, as might be expected, spending a busy time attending official and civic functions, giving lectures, etc. We have already referred, in last week's issue of FLIGHT, to the luncheon given in his honour by Sir Chas. Wakefield, and the official Air Council luncheon, held on October 4 and October 5 respectively, and so we need not dwell further on these two functions, but will pass on to Sir Alan's subsequent activities. On October 7 Sir Alan attended a reception at Manchester, in connection with that city's Civic Week. As originally planned, he was to fly from London to Manchester in a D.H. " Moth," arriving in time to attend a luncheon given in his honour by the Lord Mayor at the Town Hall. Sir Alan left Stag Lane aerodrome at 9.50 a.m., and all went well until near Nuneaton, when a sooted plug necessitated a forced landing. This was accomplished in a field near Hinckley, some overhead electric cables carrying some 6,000 volts, just missing the machine. It was then discovered that the tool kit was conspicuous for its absence, and even if they could have removed the faulty plug, there was no spare one to replace it ! As a result, Sir Alan, after walking several miles trying to find the necessary means of repair, had to telephone for another machine, and when this arrived he proceeded on his journey. In the meanwhile, about half the population of Manchester had turned out to give him welcome at Woodford, Withington (the two aerodromes where he would land) and Albert Square, outside the Town Hall, and much disappointment was caused by his non-arrival at the appointed hour. Eventually, how- ever, Sir Alan arrived safely at Woodford (the headquarters of the Lancashire Aero Club) at 2.40 p.m., where he received a hearty welcome. Proceeding after a brief interval, he arrived at the Withington landing ground at 3.54 p.m., whence he hurried to the Town Hall—too late, of course for the lunch prepared in his honour. A most enthusiastic reception was accorded him by the huge crowd, which had waited patiently for his arrival, and after being warmly received by the Lord Mayor, Sir Alan made a brief speech to the crowd outside the Town Hall. As Sir Alan explained to the Lord Mayor, he could fly to Rangoon, etc., through all sorts of things without any trouble, but he was unable to do a few miles in his own country ! During the course of his speech, Sir Alan said that in Mr. A. V. Roe the city possessed the man who had designed the first aeroplane that ever new, and upon whose design the whole industry was based, and he appealed to the citizens to take the lead in the aircraft industry, which, he prophesied, would one day be as great as, if not greater than, the motor-car industry. At present other countries were going ahead faster than we were, and it would be a bad day unless we regained our lead. On October 8 Sir Alan was the guest of honour at the monthly luncheon of the Overseas League at the Criterion Restaurant, at which Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker presided. Referring to Sir Alan's flights, the Chairman pointed out that, unlike other big flights made by foreign airmen, Sir Alan had, with one small exception, got all the necessary money raised privately. Sir Alan, in responding, emphasised the fact that the whole journey to Australia and back was never interrupted through any fault of the aeroplane or engine, which went to prove, as did the figures of the various Imperial Airway transport lines, that we had come to a stage in aviation where mechanical failure was no more apparent than in any other form of transport. That evening (October 8) Sir Alan and his com- panions were honoured at dinner by the Institute of Aero- nautical Engineers at Kettner's Restaurant, Lieut.-Col. J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon presiding. In the course of his speech in reply to the toast of his health, proposed by the Chairman, Sir Alan paid a tribute to the work of Sergt. Ward and Mr. Capel, who had, he believed, kept his D.H. 50 in a prob- ably better condition than any other machine ever had been kept. He added that he contemplated no more long flights for the time being, but he hoped, however, to continue to assist aviation in every way he possibly could. Lord Thomson of Cardington (a former Secretary of State for Air) proposed the toast of " Civil Aviation," and Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation, replied. The proceedings were brought to a close with the toast of " Our Chairman," proposed by Mr. Lawrence A. Wingfield, Honorary Solicitor of the Institution. Other guests included, in addition to Sergt. Ward and Mr. Capel, General Guidoni (Italian Air Attache), Captain and Mrs. Tymms, and Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Loader. Sir Samuel Hoare sent an expression of regret at being unable to attend, and a telegram was received from Sir Charles Wakefield to the same effect. After dinner the guests adjourned to the restaurant, where dancing until 2 a.m. brought a highly enjoyable and interesting occasion to a close. On Sunday evening Sir Alan gave his first public lecture since his return home at the Royal Albert Hall. Air Vice- Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker introduced the lecturer, and in doing so said he believed that history repeated itself—in Queen Elizabeth's time distinguished pioneers accomplished great things on the seas, and now they had started to build up the great air force of the future. Sir Alan then gave the full story of his flight to Australia and back, the complete route traversed and certain places referred to during the course of the lecture being indicated by means of a large map placed behind the lecturer. Sir Alan was among the visitors at Buckingham Palace on October 11, when he was received by the King, who bestowed upon him the accolade of knighthood. His Majesty had a long talk with Sir Alan about the flight to Australia and back. The Hon. W. G. Gibson, Postmaster-General of the Common- wealth of Australia, has written to Sir William Mitchell- Thompson, the British Postmaster-General, recording, inter alia, his appreciation of Sir Alan J. Cobham's wonderful flight out to Australia. The letter was a reply to one from Sir William Mitchell-Thompson, which was carried by Sir Alan on his outward flight. It was conveyed on the return flight to this country, and has been duly delivered to the Postmaster-General. NOT A TUG-OF-WAR: This is not a tug-of-war between rivals in transport, but one of the features in the Trans- port Parade held in connection with the Manchester Civic Week. The Avro "Avis " light 'plane towed by the 18-50 h.p., six-cyl. Crossley car created a good deal of interest. 676
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