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Aviation History
1931
1931 - 0884.PDF
FLIGHT, AUGUST 21. 1931 DEATH OF LIEUT. BRINTON On the <-ve of going to press we received the tragic newsthat Lieut. G. L. Brinton, R.N., was killed in an accident off Calshot on Tuesday evening. He went out to make hisfirst flight on the Supermarine Rolls-Royce S.6, N.247, the machine which won the last contest and established theworld's speed record. The seaplane was towed out for some two miles towards the junction of SouthamptonWater and the Solent, and Brinton took his place in the cockpit. The water was in good condition for seaplanework, the breexe was light, and the visibility quite suffi- cient. Sq.-Ldr. Orlebar ancl F./O. Snaith were in a launchnear by. Soon after 8 p.m. Brinton began to taxi and opened his throttle. The machine began to " porpoise,"that is to say, to lift off the water before it had gained flying speed. Twice she lifted off the water and fell backagain. The third time she lifted, and then dived down nose first into the water, and turned over. The floatswere wrenched off the fuselage and one wing also came away, from the tremendous force of the impact. All theboats in the vicinity dashed to the rescue. F./O. Snaith, Flt.-Lt. Castaldini (of the Felixstowe staff), and A./C.Candy tore off their clothes, and, with ropes round them, dived in and tried to get to Brinton in the cockpit. Snaith, a fine athlete, succeeded in reaching the body ofthe pilot, but could not undo his belt. All hope of savins his life had to be abandoned, and doubtless he had beenkilled instantaneously by the crash. The machine was towed ashore, and an inquiry into the cause of the accidentwill be held. Lieut. G. L. Brinton, R.N., Flying Officer, R.A.F., wasborn in 1905 at Bewdley, Worcestershire, and was educated at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth,lie was commissioned in the Royal Navy as a sub- lieutenant, and after a period at Portsmouth he was postedto H.M.S. " Hood." In 1927 he was granted a temporary commission as a flying officer, Royal Air Force, on attach-ment for four years to the Royal Air F~orce for service with the Fleet Air Arm. He was, promoted LieutenantR.N., in August, 1927. On completion of his flying train- ing at No. 1 Flying Training School, and at the trainingJrHase at Leuchars, Lieut. Brinton was posted to No. 407 (Fleet Fighter) Flight in the Mediterranean, with whichunit he served abroad and at home until he was selected in April of the present year as a member of the High-SpeedFlight. He was the first officer of the Fleet Air Arm to be chosen for duty in the Flight. THE VISIT OF THE GRAF ZEPPELIN -HE GRAF ZEPPELIN continued her record ofsuccessful trips when she arrived at Hanworth and landed punctually to programme at 7 p.m.on Tuesday evening, August 18. She left Friedrichshafen at 7.5 a.m. the same morning.She did not touch Paris but passed some 90 miles to the E.S.E. over Troyes. At Beauvais she followed the regularcontinental route over Abbeville, which was passed at 3.15 p.m. The English Channel was crossed at Cap GrisNez and the flight to London made via Brighton, Folk- stone, and up through Sussex. The weather throughout the trip was good and evenimproved towards the evening, so that when the landing was made at Hanworth the conditions were ideal. Theairship first arrived over Hanworth Park at 6 p.m. and then turned and made an extensive tour of London. Onewould have imagined that her commander was aware of the situation of FLIGHT office for he took the ship straightup Gt. Queen Street and passed immediately over us at 6.24 p.m.A little before 7 p.m. she was again over Hanworth, where she dropped her mails by parachute, then swingingwide she made a circuit before coming in to land. A volunteer landing party had been drilled carefully andwere all ready with Sqd.-Ldr. Booth and Capt. Meager in charge, and, needless to say, they carried out theirpart of the landing excellently. As the airship came in low over the trees she headed straight for the landingparty and we were treated to one of the most superb exhibitions of handling anyone could wish to see. Whenthe nose was over the party the trap doors in the bow were opened and the mooring ropes dropped; then withoutthe slightest hitch or confusion these were taken out on either side by the right men and the airship's head gentlyheld down until the main gondola was within reach of the party who were standing by to seize the rails runningalong each side of it. They then, by pulling down further, brought the rear engine gondola within reach ofanother group who were standing beneath it, and as soon as they had its rails in their grasp the airship could besaid to be moored. The next official part of the programme was the trans-ference of the passengers. This was done two at a time so as to disturb the trim of the airship as little as possible.As two of those who came over with her from Germany disembarked, two of the new passengers embarked, 22came over and 24 embarked for the cruise round England, and among these latter were Col. F. C. Shelmerdine, theDirector of Civil Aviation; Col. the Master of Semphill; Lord Inverclyde and Lord Newborough. When she left,the intention was that the route taken should be to Fal- mouth, then along the north coast of Cornwall, over theIrish Sea to Dublin and Belfast, then on to Glasgow, and finally straight back to Hanworth.The landing itself, apart from being a masterly one, was also one of the most moving scenes. The crowd,which must have numbered some 20,000 or more, were so enthusiastic that they became completely out of control,and immediately the airship was secured they broke down all barriers and swarmed over the ground. " What policethere were were swept aside and in a very few moments the airship was surrounded with a seething mass of people.They surged round the gondola and did not even give Dr. Eckener a chance to get out nor Mr. Montague, theUnder-Secretary of State for Air, the room to make his official welcome. When the crowd was finally forced back and an openspace cleared, Dr. Eckener went to the microphone and, in a brief speech in English, expressed his thanks for thewelcome he had received. He stressed the point that the airship was an important instrument in furthering thegood relationship of the nations by being able to make long flights across the seas and bringing the nationsnearer to each other. Mr. Montague welcomed Dr. Eckener and his officers onbehalf of the Secretary of State for Air and the Air Council. He said that the airship's progress had been followed withgreat interest wherever it had been, and they appreciated the willingness with which this present trip had beenmade. Mr. Montague then presented Dr. Eckener with a gold cigarette box from his German friends in this country.Dr. Eckener made a short reply, and said that he con- sidered it a privilege to feel that he had been of someslight assistance to the furtherment of British airship development. He said that his 30 years' experience showedhim that development could only be achieved on a world- wide scale with complete international co-operation. The take-off, which was made at 8.0 p.m., went as weexpected, with the gieat smoothness, despite the efforts of the crowd to make things as difficult as possible for hercommander. When they were pushed back, however, she was allowed to rise a little and then hauled down again ;this was just to test the Buoyancy and to see that she was light enough to rise clear when let go altogether. Thena signal was given, we heard a whistle blown, the men on the gondolas held on while the ropes were drawn up intothe nose, a further whistle, and up she went. Then the engine-room gongs clanged, the motors started up, and theairship left Hanworth on her further cruise. The Graf Zeppelin passed over London on its return fromthe cruise at 6 p.m., August 19, and arrived at Hanworth just before 7 p.m.—as usual, according to schedule—moored at 7.10 and left again at 7.30. We feel that Col. The Master of Sempill is to be con-gratulated on his enterprise in getting the Graf Zeppelin tc make this journey to Hanworth and then around England,and his justification for doing so was shown by the terrific crowd which invaded the stately home of National FlyingServices at Hanworth Park. Following this cruise it has been announced that theGraf Zeppelin will make two cruises to South America. The first of these will start on August 26 and the secondon September 19. The destination is said to be Pernambuco on each occasion. 830 i
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