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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0339.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 10, 1931 PRIVATE FLYING TO AND CLUB NEWS SURREY AERO CLUB OPENING <T-'HE new club-house of the Surrey Aero Club wasofficially opened by the President, Capt. WoolfBarnato, on Saturday, April 4. The ceremonyitself took the form of chastening the aerodrome by means of a bottle of champagne which Capt. Barnato threwoverboard from a Moth. Since, however, it was attached to a rather large parachute, it did not break as was anticipatedand spread its valuable contents over the surface of the aerodrome, which perhaps was just as well since it was thenpossible to put it to a better purpose. The start of affairs was marred by what might have been a very serious accidentwhen a Moth which was started up on full throttle, with neither chocks in front of the wheels nor a pilot in the cockpit, ranaway, and after a hectic career finished by ramming a Blue- bird. The accident should teach a salutary lesson to many ofthe younger pilots who are apt to treat their aircraft with a familiarity bordering on contempt. The invariable rule thatthe greatest care must be taken in the starting up of an air- craft engine and that whenever possible this should never bedone without either a qualified person in the cockpit or chocks in front of the wheels has been repeated so often that we shouldhave thought it unnecessary to mention it again here, but even those who are experienced in such matters sometimesforget to take just that sufficient care which makes flying safe. Fortunately this Moth elected to finish its career awavfrom the crowd, but it started towards them and had it con- tinued, the opening of the Surrey Aero Club would have be-come a very sad affair. The afternoon was not advertised as a pre-organised and elaborate flying meeting, and the flyingwhich followed the christening merely took the form of a fly-past with subsequent demonstrations by such pilots ondifferent machines as had arrived. These were Mr. Rawson in an Autogiro (Genet Major) ; Mr. Allen in the Cirrus-HermesEngineering Co.'s Avian (Hermes II) ; Mr. Rogers in a Klemm (Salmson) ; Mr. Russell in a Redwing (Genet II) ; Mr.Rawson in an aerobatic display on one of the club Moths (Gipsy I) ; and Mr. Dick in a Bluebird (Gipsy I). There wereabout 25 machines present, including several private owners, and. the crowd appeared to enjoy the afternoon's flying. Theclub-house deserves special mention, since it is certainly unique as flying club-houses go. It is a sixteenth century old oak-timbered manor house which we understand has largely been presented to the club by Miss Delphine Reynolds who is atpresent flying to Capetown via the west coast route, together with Mr. Pudney, in a Bluebird seaplane (Gipsy III), and itcertainly makes the most delightful old club-house one can The 16th Century Manor House which the Surrey Aero Club have for the Club House. It is placed in very beautiful gardens. (FLIGHT Photo.) 315 possibly imagine. The interior is of old oak beams and taste-fully arranged with simple furniture. The gardens are to a certain extent being re-arranged but when finished will en-tirely be in keeping with the house and together form a most delightful spot. Other amenities at the club are hard andgrass tennis courts and a small nine-hole golf course. There is also, under construction, a large open air bathing pool.Sleeping accommodation can also be provided for members as well as the other usual club-house arrangements. The club iswithin easy reach of London and Brighton, and a car service is in operation from Horley and Three Bridges stations, eachof which is about two miles distant from the aerodrome. yilE DELHI FLYING CLUB put in 211 hrs. 10 mins.flying time, while privately-owned machines had a further 30 hrs. 30 mins. during February. At the beginningof the month, the whole fleet of club aircraft, together with Mr. R. E. Grant Govan's Puss Moth, went on a week's tripto the United Provinces and Gwalior. Sir Victor Sassoon has started re-qualifying for his " A " licence, and His High-ness the Maharaja of Jodhpur, also one of the Patrons of the Club, has commenced his tuition. As was announcedin FLIGHT, on March 13, Mr. Bhagat B. Lai, a member ofthe Club, was the first Indian gentleman to take his " B " licence, and he has now been appointed assistant instructorand secretary to the club. During the R.A.F. pageant, held at the civil aerodrome, Safdarjung, on February 14, threeIndian pilots, Messrs. Bhagat B. Lai, R. N. Chawla and P. D. Sharma, who were trained by the Club, gave an ex-tremely good exhibition of formation flying. A reciprocal arrangement has been instituted between all the flying clubsin India whereby members of one club can use another club without payment for a period of one month, provided theybring with them a letter of introduction from the secretary of the club to which they belong. /"•INQUE PORTS FLYING Club are glad to report thattheir instructor, Mr. K. K. Brown, has now recovered from his illness, and has been able to take over work againfrom Mr. Newman, who has so ably deputised for him during the last few weeks. "TANGANYIKA FLYING CLUB—The Tanganyika flying ^ club held a very well attended meeting at the NewAfrica Hotel on Monday, February 16. After a lengthy discussion, it was finallv decided that non-Europeans shouldonly be permitted to join as flying members, that is, they should notbe entitled to all the privileges of the club, and it was agreed thatthe entrance fee and annual sub- scription should be lower in theircase than it is for ordinary mem- bers. Sir Donald Cameron, SirStewart Symes and Lord Wakefield were elected as patrons, while Mr.Lockheart-Mure has been appointed secretary. DHILLIPS& POWIS AIRCRAFT*• (Reading) are experiencing difficulty in deciding the nature ofthe ceremony for opening their new club-house, and are offeringa prize for the best suggestion. They are prepared to give a freebook of tickets for three hours either solo or dual flying, towhoever submits the best scheme for a programme covering pro-ceedings for the afternoon and evening. It is felt that pageantsare not very popular at present, and they, therefore, hope that someof our readers will be able to suggest
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