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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0764.PDF
SEPTEMBER 29, 1927 corridor (sorry!), and striking the coast again somewherein the Memel district. Thence onward he was again over land until he reached Riga, having covered 1,200 miles inlOf hours. At Riga, having finished his work for Beardmores', Hinklerdemonstrated the " Avian " before the Letts, who were impressed by its general qualities, and especially by thefolding undercarriage, which, in addition to relieving the load on the tail when the wings are folded, brings the enginedown low for inspection and adjustment. While in Latvia Hinkler was extremely well received, and so impressed werethe Letts that they "decorated him with the badge of the Latvian Air Service, a golden eagle suspended from a redswastika. The return journey was commenced about 10.30 a.m. on Friday, September 9, and Berlin was reached in approximately8 hrs. flying, against a very strong head wind. Hinkler spent the Saturday in Berlin, and on Sunday, September 11, heleft for home at 8 a.m., reaching Croydon at 4.30 p.m., having again had to fight strong contrary winds all the way.The " Avian " throughout behaved admirably, as did also the " Cirrus " engine. One thing was clearly brought outby the flight : the advantage of a high cruising speed. As Hinkler says, " You want to be able to say that on such andsuch a day you are going to such and such a place. Not having to qualify that statement by adding ' if the weatheris favourable '." On the return journey the " Avian " met head winds all along, but it was able to make the twolong journeys in reasonable time in spite of this, and in spite of a very large quantity of petrol on board. PRIVATE FLYING AT HOOTON THE aerodrome at Hooton, Cheshire, where the Hooton AirPageant was held last Saturday, is situated on the south bank of the River Mersey, about eight miles along the riversouth-east of Birkenhead. Its exact position would be seem- ingly distinguishable by a long and apparently artificialhill by the water. There are excellent large hangars and most of the civilised facilities. The nearest towns are Liverpool,Birkenhead and Chester, all within a radius of ten miles. The field itself is long and flat and fairly wide. The arrangementsfor the meeting were on a large and elaborate scale and nothing was left haphazard. There were enclosures for three classesof humanity, loud speakers announcing events, &c, in a hollow tone, and good possibilities in the catering line. Therewere many helpful policemen and scores of stewards to answer a fusillade of innocent questions. From an aero-nautical point of view the attendance was excellent. All the well-known racing pilots were there besides a variable con-tingent of the R.A.F. Imperial Airways had a liner flying without a pause and initiating scores of enthusiasts to thethrills of the air despite the wretched weather. There were other joy-riding machines equally busy. For hours Sir AlanCobham was engaged in this work too, carrying passengers in his famous D.H.50. Most of the races found many runners,and there were a few interesting neck-to-neck dashes past the finishing line. In the High Power Handicap Mrs. Eliott-Lynn on her S.E.5A passed Captain Sparks on his S.E.5fifteen miles from home, and naturally turned into the aero- drome with the race clearly hers ; but before coming downthe straight the competitors had to bank round a lake at the end of the aerodrome, and this Mrs. Eliott-Lynn apparentlyfailed to do, but she realised her mistake quickly and gauging her chances against Capt. Sparks very luckily she turned back,corrected her error and then came down sweeping the grass towards the line neck-to-neck with Capt. Sparks, beatinghim by f sees. The race was naturally all the more interesting for that happening. On the long course of about 30 milesthe machines flew out to the coast then came right down the peninsular to the other side at Shotwick. and then across toHooton with one or two turns. The weather conditions made racing an exacting task. Visibility was very bad, and rainpoured ceaselessly the whole time. A severe test must have been keeping straight to the course. In the Low PowerHandicap there were about a dozen competitors. Capt. Sparks refused to start as a protest against this number, andalso because the race demanded two turns within a verv short distance of each other. As the senior pilot he felt he could notvoice his protest more wisely than by declining to fly in the race. This was probably a sacrifice on his part for providingthe handicap allowance gives him a reasonable chance, Yorkshire Club's Air PageantTHE Sherburn Club is holding their annual air pageant on October 1-2. The programme will be far more ambitiousthan previously, and everything is well in hand for making a very successful meeting. The Chairman is broadcastinga talk in connection with it from Leeds on September 30 at 6 to 6.30 pm. Duchess of Bedford's Scottish AerodromeTHE Duchess of Bedford left Woburn Abbey on Septem- ber 25 in her private aeroplane, a Moth, and reached herScottish residence, Cairnsmore House, Kirkcudbrightshire, in the evening. The Duchess has had a landing field andshed prepared for her machine whilst in Scotland. Lieut. Bentley's Fine Flight THIS South African pilot who left England in his Mothon September 1 reached Johannesburg, on September 26. Capt. Sparks takes a lot of beating in any race. His actionwas quite an altruistic one. Propaganda EffectThese air pageants like Hooton's should enlighten the public about the simplicity of flying for they bring together incombat experienced professionals and amateur private- owners and reveal in many instances an equality in skill asfar as racing conditions are concerned, though it may be an unfortunate fact that the public cannot differentiate betweenthem except in one or two cases by familiarity with records. The fine efforts of Lady Bailey, Mrs. Eliott-Lynn and MissO'Brien in their races with the men must make them un- conscious missionaries amongst their sex, and perhaps amongstthe other sex too. Mrs. Eliott-Lynn had designs on the light aeroplane altitude record at Hooton in an Alpha-Avian,but the skv was ton near the ground. Essentially, the R.A.F. Display and the variety items, likethe parachute descent of Miss June, provided the crowd with the most interest, because, of course, races are apparentlyall alike to spectators, although the most important part of a meeting. Close formation flying at low altitudes and thecrazy flying events are certain draws. The latter attracts a heap of feelings : amazement, delight, surprise and amuse-ment. From a spectacular point of view, it is a boon to flying. It is clever clowning in the air. There was to have been a Set-Piece carried out by pilotsof No. 5 F.T.S. Sealand and officials of No. 2 Ammunition Depot, R.A.F., Altrincham. Spectators would have had toimagine that a state of war existed and the Government had been compelled to pack a week-end case and seek a havenof rest in Liverpool. Here their abode was to be represented by a picture of temporary buildings made of a canvas struc-ture. Enemy aircraft suddenly drop packets of uphcava' on this, finding a defence equalling one machine who cannotget a look in anywhere. Government officials bunk and get a good speed on with the help of machine-guns. Come morebombs—exit Government buildings. Help arrives, and chases enemy away, which serves them right. This thrilling spectacleonly happened on paper, however, because the rain objected to interference. When the meeting finished, the pilots and officials werepractically alone, for the crowd had gradually dribbled away, through sheer physical wretchedness, to prepare againstcolds, pneumonia and rheumatism. The danger of air meet- ings lies more in the English weather than in flying. Therewere no flying fatalities at Hooton, but one cannot say for certain that there were no weather fatalities. The Pressphotographers fought against hopeless odds. They could not have taken themselves in that light. He was escorted to the town by five S.A. Air Force machines,and was warmly welcomed. He will continue to Cape Town as originally arranged. Aero Clubs for Canada COL. J. L. RALSTON, Minister of National Defence,announces that the Canadian Government is to assist in the creation of light aeroplane clubs in Canada. Two machineswill be issued to each club on condition that the club provides maintenance, a field or seaplane station and instructor.Every year the Government may grant each club another machine if the club supplies itself one, too. Yorkshire Accident WHILST flying at Shcrburn, the Yorkshire club's homeon September 23, Captain Millburn, a private owner, crashed after a short flight. His passenger, Miss Dorothy Ellison, waskilled and he was seriously injured. 686
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