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Aviation History
1932
1932 - 0981.PDF
FLIGHT, SEPTEMBER 30, 1932 » 1mm& MBBmmmmm : .,;„•• •- '.'!.'«'......*' %*t The Westland " Wessex " (three 7-cylinder Genet Majors) which carried some of the Mayor's party from Heston to Romford. (FLIGHT Photo.) fourth places were secured by Mr. Meadway on the " Desoutter," and Mr. Lipton on his " Moth." After the arrival of the Lord Mayor at Maylands aero drome, the meeting was, by him, declared open, a fact which was signified by the start of the fly-past. The aero drome is by no means a nice one, having a very consider able slope on one side, down which the majority of people, despite the direction of the wind, evidently preferred not to land. As can be imagined, the result was rather hectic, and very soon we had the spectacle of machines taking off and landing across each other much in the same way as we are accustomed to seeing files of Lancers riding through each other from opposite corners of the arena during the annual Army and Navy and Air Force Display at Olympia. However, no accident due to this cause occurred, but nevertheless many were thankful when authority, in the shape of Capt. A. G. Lamplugh, stepped in and cancelled the remainder of the fly-past. It would be as well at this juncture to point out that there is, of course, no possibility of this aerodrome, in its present state, being licensed as the Essex airport. It is merely the private aerodrome of Mr. Hillman, whose enterprise it is hoped will be the means of arousing sufficient local interest to establish a suitable airport in the vicinity. The weather was very thick in places, so that fog pre vented the arrival of many of the machines which should have done so ; nevertheless, a very representative gather ing was seen, including types of the following aircraft: " Fokker," " Westland Wessex," " Bristol Fighter," " Autogiro," " Puss Moth," " Comper Swift," " Spartan Cruiser," " Fox Moth," " Gull," " Avro Baby," " Avian," " Tom-Tit," " Junkers," " Spartan Arrow," " Lockheed Vega," and " Moths " in several forms, of several participants caused the be changed a considerable amount, fly-past, Lt. Com. G. Rodd, R.N. able demonstration of the flying capabilities of his " Puss Moth." Com. Rodd must, we imagine, have done as much flying, if not more, than anybody in a " Puss Moth," and there is no doubt that he knows its capabilities to an inch. The next, most effective, event was a wireless controlled flying lesson (so-called) by Mr. R. A. C. Brie in an " Autogiro." The " Auto giro " carried a Marconi wireless receiving apparatus, and Mr. Brie's manoeuvres were controlled by Mr. Courtenay, whose orders were broadcast from a van on the ground. Fit. Lt. A. G. Hill landed safely, albeit just beyond the confines of the aerodrome, after having jumped from a " Spartan " 3-seater flown by Capt. N. Stack ; he used a Russell " Lobe " parachute. The flight of three " Bull dogs " from No. 54 (Fighter) Sqdn., stationed at Horn- church, which had been flying round for some considerable time, then decided that they had better take a hand in the programme, this already being nearly J-hr. late Their manoeuvres were just the sort of thing required at this stage to enliven the public who may not have under stood the finer points of their movements, but who cer tainly responded to the roar of the three " Jupiter " engines when flown close over their heads. One very effective manoeuvre was commenced in echelon to the left, continued with a half-roll, a dive in line astern and a zoom up over the centre of the aerodrome, finishing in the reverse direction. On one occasion they continued, 'Avro 504K," ' Hawker Fury," The non-arrival programme to and after the gave a most turning the zoom into a complete roll, formating once more in squadron '' Vee '' at the top. Shortly afterwards F/O. P. E. G. Sayer took up the Hawker " Fury " (Kestrel) and gave a demonstration which was in every way just as perfect as we are now well accustomed to seeing from him, and which we have already described so many times. He has now developed a spectacular take-off, wherein he holds the machine down until well across the aerodrome and then proceeds to do a nearly vertical climb, and roll at least twice on the way up. On another occasion, after diving at the aerodrome, he turned on his back and finished with a zooming climb for many hundreds of feet in this position. One of the most impressive of his methods of showing off the machine was to fly low across the aerodrome down wind, flat out, and then to turn and come back again just hanging in the air at what looked like about 40 m.p.h. Other machines which were demonstrated were the " Comper Swift," both the " Gipsy " engined and " Pob- joy " engined varieties, the " Percival Gull," " Westland Wessex," " Spartan Cruiser " and the " Lockheed Vega." Before departing, the Lady Mayoress presented the Hillman Trophy to Mr. Buckingham, the winner of the Clacton race. Early in the afternoon an " Autogiro " landed, which had been flown from Han worth by Messenger Boy Cabel, of the Commercial Cable Co. This youth, who is a member of the Messenger Boys' Flying Club and who has now done quite a considerable number of hours cross-country in the " Autogiro," carried a cable message from the Mayor of New York to the Lord Mayor of London. A very appropriate reply to this message was returned in the same manner. A LADIES' PARTY AT SYWELL O N Sunday, September 25, the ladies of the Northamptonshire Aero Club held the second of their annual flying meetings. This year the meeting, once more ably organised by Miss Mollie Olney, was more in the nature of a garden party, the general public not therefore being invited. Some dozen visiting machines arrived at the aerodrome during the afternoon, quite a large proportion of which were flown by lady pilots. Unfortunately, other meetings in the country clashed with this gathering, thereby lessening the number of visitors. Last year the handsome cup, pre sented by Mr. Lee Champion, was won by Miss " Susan " Slade in a race which, it will be remembered, was distinctive for its somewhat exciting(!) finish. This year, however, the idea of a race was abandoned and a competition substituted. The cup, it was decided, should still be presented to the winner, and therefore Miss Slade had perforce to fly up from Cornwall with this " utensil," which she managed to do despite the execrable weather. Miss Slade told us that she explored every valley in Somerset in an endeavour to get north from Cornwall on the first day of her attempt before returning to a field belonging to some friends in Taunton. On the second day she was more lucky, and by avoiding the hills she was able to get through. The competition took the form of a test of the pilot's ability to fly accurately by compass without the aid of a map. All entrants were given maps, 917
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