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Aviation History
1928
1928 - 0576.PDF
JULY 5. 192S ROYAL AIR FORCE DISPLAY THE ninth annual Royal Air Force Display was held onJune 30 at Hendon, before their Majesties the King and Queen and a crowd estimated at 150,000. Rain fell in shortsharp showers at the beginning of events, but for the main part of the interesting programme during the afternoon ablue sky patched with ballooning clouds hung over Hendon aerodrome and the sun sparkled on the whole spectacle. Bynoon a large crowd had already gathered to witness the early events. The first item was a race of approximately 14 miles betweenofficers from each of the training centres which carry out annual training of officers on the Reserve of the R.A.F.—namely, London (De Havilland Aircraft Co., Ltd.), Bristol (Bristol Aeroplane Co., Ltd.), Coventry (Sir \V. G. Armstrong,Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd.), Glasgow (William Beardmore and Co., Ltd.), and Leeds (North Sea Aerial and GeneralTransport, Ltd.). All the pilots flew Avro-Lynx machines and started in therain and low clouds. They finished in close order, only eight seconds separating the first machine and last machine.Flying Officer C. E. M. Pickthorn, M.C., representing Leeds, was the winner, his time being 8 mins. 52 sees. Flight-Lieut. then came the " Fox " (Flight-Lieut. H. F. V. Battle), andfinally the " Moth " (Flying Officer R. A. Taaffe). Only two seconds divided the winner from the second pair. This race was followed by a demonstration of the slottedwing at about 1.20 p.m., the pilot being Flight-Lieut. D. S. Don, of No. 24 (Communication) Squadron, who often pilotsthe Prince of Wales for his rush engagements. A very stiff breeze prevailed when the D.H. " Moth " tookoff and floated at slow speeds very low and near to the enclosures, giving a convincing display to the public. Ithung at moments on its nose stationary, and it floated down with the engine nearly off from a considerable altitude withvery little forward movement. The descent was compara- tively slow too, and the machine remained clearly stable allthe while. It was a .good exhibition, which included a low loop and low flat turns. An Air Combat next thrilled the crowd. Two." Siskins "of No. 32 (Fighter) Squadron were piloted by Flight-Lieut. S. T. B. Cripps and Flying Officer J. C. H. Tavendale respec-tively. This seemed to be a demonstration of an experienced fighter attacking a novice, for one of the " Siskins " tried hisbest all the time to get on the tail of the other who careered •at? AIR FORCE DISPLAY A general view of the crowd which was estimated at 150,000. night bombers passing over during one of the events. [" FLIGHT " Photograph Above is a flight of H. Bligh (Coventry) was second, Flying Officer F. J. Brunton(Bristol) third, Flying Officer R. P.Mollard (Glasgow) fourth, and Flying Officer G. F. Court (London) fifth. The next event was an exhibition of individual aerobaticsby Flight-Lieut. F. K. Damant, D.F.C., and Flying Officer C. S. Staniland ,of No. 41 (Fighter) Squadron, on Armstrong-Whitworth " Siskins " (Jaguars). They took it in turns to perform their manoeuvres and also acted simultaneously,looping together at low altitudes and finally landing together. Their individual displays were given at each end of the longline of enclosures. A Handicap Race of 28 miles then followed for the Cuppresented by the Duke of York. The pilots represented the Air Ministry and each Headquarters Command in England.An interesting aspect was lent to the event by the variety of the machines, which were Armstrong-Whitworth " Siskin,"Gloster "Gamecock," Hawker "Woodcock," Fairey "Fly- catcher," Fairey " Fox," and D.H. " Moth." The machinesstarted off in rain, but the weather cleared whilst they were on the course. They passed over the aerodrome once whenthe D.H. " Moth " was leading and the Fairey " Fox " was last, which, incidentally, was their order of starting. At thefinish the Fairey " Flycatcher," piloted by Flight-Lieut. E. F. Waring, D.F.C. (Coastal Area), was first, followed by the"Siskin" and "Woodcock," flown by Flight-Lieut. A. H. Orlebar and Flight-Lieut. D. S. Earp respectively, who dead-heated. The " Gamecock " (Sqdn.-Ldr. A. Gray) was next, round trying to shake his unhealthy intruder off. He didnot succeed, however, and was finally brought down in " flames," which he did in very realistic fashion, trailing acurving stream of smoke in his spiralling descent and final long dive out of sight. Meanwhile his victor soared above,clearly elated by his " dastardly " work, for he could not refrain from diving and zooming, looping very low andflying upside-down before coming to earth. The next item was a competition for climbing betweenfour " Siskins," three with supercharged " Jaguars " and the other with an unsupercharged " Jaguar," representingNos. 1, 32, 41, and 111 Squadrons. The start was tempo- rarily delayed owing to the low clouds. It was expected that17,000 ft. (over three miles) would be reached in the 15 minutes but the winner, Pilot Officer T. J. Arbuthnot (No. 41),touched 19,500 ft. His " Siskin " was one of the supercharged " Jaguars."The second place was won by Frying Officer H. W. Char- nock (No. 32) on the unsupercharged " Siskin," who reached16,000 ft. Third place went to Flying Officer H. G. Loch (No. 1), who touched 14,000 ft. It was announced that theclouds caused the difference in the altitudes attained. Whilst the machines were engaged in the altitude race thenext event was started. This was a demonstration shoot. On the aerodrome was a long-range gun belonging to the" enemy," which was supposed to have recently gone into action and been located by air photography. A battery of 524
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