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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0413.PDF
FLIGHT. MAY 1, 1931 fiuvate ANWORTH CLUB.—On Monday evening, April 27, altogether very bad for flying over. Casey was apparently Sir Alan Cobham presided over a dinner given flying the machine, when he got tired of doing so, and to Capt. Hawks at the Hanworth Club. Amongst passed the control column over to Hawks, with the request those present were Capt. and Mrs. Hawks, Major to fly it awhile. Whether it was by design or accidentand Mrs. Cooke, and Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, of the Texas that this moment coincided with the engine quitting work Oil l'°- '• Capt. the Hon. F. E. Guest, Miss Diana Guest, Capt. Hawks never knew, but he said that Casey JonesLadv Drogheda, Major Mealing, Mr. C. C. Walker, Capt. was evidently a very careful pilot, and took no risks, Max Findlay, and many other members and officials of especially when he put them on to someone else,the club. After dinner Sir Alan, in rising to welcome Like many American pilots, Capt. Hawks apparently Capt. Hawks, made reference to their guest's well-known started after the war on a Barnstorming tour, and he did record flights across the American continent and the more so in Texas with a J.N.4D. His description of the rancherrecent flight to Rome and back, and said he did not know from whom he was forced to ask the way, and who said how they were done, since, when he himself had made that he did not know where the road went to in eitheranv long flights, he got thoroughly bruised and usually direction, but whom, when asked what he did know, felt sick or had a bilious attack at the end. In referring affirmed that at least he was not lost, was really funny. to Mrs. Hawks, Sir Alan said that she had travelled over He would like to thank the company, he said, who had 9,1,000 miles by air and was probably one of the most been so good in giving him the machines and equipmentexperienced air passengers in the world. He also referred with which to make these tours, because, he said, that to the towed glider flights which Capt. Hawks had made, without a " sugar daddy," as they called them in theand visualised aerial tailing parties of the future something States, who would back you with suitable equipment, it on the lines of the better-known variety now held in was quite impossible to do anything at all. Switzerland. He pleaded for Capt. Hawks to come over It was after flying a Lockheed for the company, he said,lure for a longer stay, and to make a tour of our towns that he first got the idea to get something really fast, in an endeavour to awake municipal authorities to the because over there the distances which they cover are importance of establishing landing grounds. In conclusion, very great indeed—not at all like in England, where, ifhe- said that all his own long-distance flights had proved you are not careful, you run into water in any direction that aerial travel as it is to-day is far too slow, and that (this, as Capt. Hawks remarked, was good propaganda forwe must do something about it on the lines that Capt. flying boats). What he always wanted to do, he said, Hawks had done. There was, however, one drawback, he was to catch up with the sun, so that he would alwayssaid, and that was, before very long, when we came to be able to land in daylight, and this he really did when look upon flying at 1,000 m.p.h. as the ordinary thing, flying from New York to Los Angeles ; in fact, he was we should, when we flew west, never get beyond breakfast able to play nine holes of golf with his father after arriv- time, and should therefore never be able to have lunch or ing there—and, indeed, would have played eighteen butdinner. By way of comic relief, he told a story which f:>r the fact that his father was beating him! had recently occurred to Capt. C. Barnard at a dinner, He illustrated the question of time more fully when he when asked by a lady if he flew he said " Yes, he said that there is twenty minutes' difference in the timekept at Brussels and that at Rotterdam and the th d h h y pwhen asked y lady if he, flew, e d did," and remarked that he had been on a long-distanceBdfd Hidid, and e g dam and the flight to the Cape with the Duchess of Bedford. His other day when he flew from the former to the latter,hearer exclaimed, " How magnificent for you, you were he left at 4 p.m. and arrived at 4 p.m., and if he had in such excellent hands, weren't you? " Sir Alan paid opened up the throttle a little more he felt sure he couldtribute to Capt. Hawks' machine, and said that they all have arrived before he left. appreciated his coming very much indeed. Capt. Hawks, in opening his reply,referred to the report which hi:d appeared in a certain journal to theeffect that he was an Australian, ,-ind said fiat, now they had heard himspeak four words, they would have no doubt when- he really did come from.He did not feel justified, he said, in talking on the subject of speed, sincr-all records, as well as the fastest machines, were held Dy England.Capt. Hawks is an amusing speaker of trie impromptu +ype, and such a speechas his very naturally loses most of its humour when reported in print. Fromthe time he got up until the time he sat down he kept everyone laughing,and told us a very great deal about American aviation, though he wascracking jokes the whole time. He first of all gave what he called theinternational part of his speech by saying that both the English andAmericans had the same colour of skin and hair and spoke ihe same language—at least some of them did—and he hoped that flyers would be instru-mental in dispelling any small differ- ences which might now be present. Hegave us a very brief resume of his life, and interpolated into this many amus-ing incidents. At one time, he said, he was flving with Casey Jones in anIreland Amphibion over Louisiana, which he explained was a very goodState to be away from! The country, he said, was nothing but trees, and The Trophy presented by the Newcastle " Evening World " forthe Heston—Cramlington race, to be held on May 30. 3S1 We were also treated to a veryhumorous description of a trip he made with Will Rogers, giving shows in aidof the Red Cross. When they started. Will Rogers was given a parachute andtold how to use it. and he naturally i'sked what the ring was foi and whyh was there. Hawks described how you had to count five after you jumpedout and then pull the ring for the parachute to open. It was placed(here, he said, in reply to Will Rogers' query, after consultation with themedical authorities, because they came to the conclusion that when youjumped yon would sort of reach "for your heart, and the ring would thenjust naturally come to hand. " Gee," said Will Rogers, "I guess if I reachedfor my heart when I jumped I should choke myself." Many more storiesfollowed, both of this same tour with Rogers and of other tours which Hawkstook on his own. Finally, he said he regretted verymuch that he would be unable to meet more flying men over here, but that he certainly hoped to come backagain later. His description of the difficulties hehad during his flight back from Rome was amusing to a degree, and his desig-nation of ground officials on aero- dromes as " Kiwis," so-called becausethe Kiwi is a bird who talks a lot and doesn't fly, appeared peculiarly apt. Hefinished by thanking everyone for the hospitality he had had while here, andhoped that if anybody went to the D 2
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