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Aviation History
1933
1933 - 0039.PDF
FLIGHT, JULY 6, 1933 all interested in the spectacle of an alleged Customs official signing papers before a machine took off! As regards the running commentary which was kept up about the various events. We know only too well that it is wellnigh impossible to satisfy pilots and others actually in aviation, when speaking to the general public, but surely it was unnecessary to make statements like " Fit. Lt. Stainforth, who won the British World's Speed Record in the Schneider Cup Trophy of 1931 . . ." ! Nor do we see how he could have been " stalling, almost nose diving," when doing his slow flying! The question of how dangerous any event should be allowed to be, in an endeavour to thrill the crowd, is very difficult to decide, and in the course of years we have seen many hair-raising events, but we doubt whether anything we have experienced was quite so shaking as a display in this programme which entailed looping a light aircraft off the ground and bursting a tethered balloon at the bottom of that loop. We take off our hat to the pilot —unnamed in the programme—who did this. His skill was undoubted, but we question the wisdom of the man agement in getting him to do it. AIR-MINDED ULSTER MRS. CLEAVER was responsible for a well-organised Flying Display which was held on Alder grove Aerodrome, Co. Antrim, on Satur day, July 1. Her avowed intention was to stimulate air-mindedness in Ulster, and from the number of spectators who went to see the Display there is little doubt that she succeeded. We gather that from every point of view it was a great success. Naturally, with the counter-attraction of the opening of Liverpool Airport on the same day, it was not to be ex pected that many visitors would fly over from England. Quite an appreciable number did so, however, thereby greatly adding to the interest of the afternoon for the public. Among those who attended and who very greatly appre ciated the hospitality which was extended to them during their stay were:—Miss " Susan " Slade, in her " Moth " i" Gipsy I ") ; the increasing business at Heston rarely permits her to get away, but this time she made a proper ' do " of it, calling at Newcastle for Miss Connie Leathart, of Cramlington Aircraft, Ltd., on the way ; Mr. Phillip Wills, with three passengers in a " Fox Moth "; Mr. and Mrs. Ivor McClure, in their well-known " Moth " (" Gipsy I "), with its appropriate lettering, G-AAAA, appropriate because Mr. McClure is in charge of the avia tion department of the Automobile Association, which incidentally sent excellent and full route instructions to all those pilots attending the Display ; so thorough and full was this information, that it included copies of the A.A. Register of Landing Grounds appropriate to the occasion and all necessary details of courses, distances, and local flying regulations ; Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers, in a "Moth " (" Gipsy I ") ; Mr. E. Percival, in a " Gull," with Lord Halsbury ; Mr. Gordon Selfridge, Junr., with Miss Rosalind Norman ; Mr. R. Preston ; and Mr. R. Ince with Lord Donegall, all in " Puss Moth " (" Gipsy HI ") machines ; Capt. T. N. Stack and Mr. A. Muntz, in a " Tiger Moth "; Mr. R. Cazalet, in his new " Mono- spar " (two " Pobjoys "), which he has just flown back from Malta ; Mr. and Mrs. Williams, in a " Moth." Lord Clydesdale brought over a flight of " Wapiti " aircraft from No. 602 (City of Glasgow) (Bomber) Squad ron, from Abbotsinch, the aerodrome of the Auxiliary Air Force at Glasgow, which gave an excellent display of formation flying. During the afternoon Wing. Com. L. T. N. Gould, in command of No. 502 (Ulster) (Bomber) Squadron, gave a display with three of his " Virginia " night bombers, and the roar of their Napier " Lion " engines moved the crowd to enthusiasm. Miss Slade distinguished herself by burst ing all the balloons when it came to her turn in that par ticular form of skill, and several others either demonstrated the various machines in which they had flown over or gave aerobatic and crazy-flying displays. There was a parachute drop b)' Mr. J. Gilmore. In the evening the Lord Mayor (Sir Crawford McCullagh) presided at a dinner for the visiting pilots, at which a number of prominent people gave voice to their feelings as to the desirability of Belfast having a municipal airport, and also of establishing a flourishing Aero Club. These two most praiseworthy objects were really the raison d'etre of Mrs. Cleaver's efforts, and we hope that her work will in due course result in achieving both of them. The health of the visitors was drunk and a reply made by Lord Halsbury. The Ulster Aero Club's health was drunk and a reply made by the Rt. Hon. J. M. Barber (Minister of Commerce). Lord Donegall also spoke, and Mrs. Cleaver, who got the reception she undoubtedly de served, made a pretty reference of thanks to Wing. Com. Gould, Mr. Preston, Mr. Percival and others who had worked hard to make the show a real banger. A large party was afterwards taken out by Mr. Rives Shillington (A.D.C. to the Governor), and Mr. Barber, to the Royal Ulster Yacht Club to witness the midnight sail ing race by the searchlights of H.M.S. Rodney. I- •' * " 4' Sti4*W ''* * *<* ' 7* ' n SS. u A . .. £_ • J! HI 1KB 1 JWiH 1 wpiWHi * £?^< *»?!& ** 3?" ' ' £ ' • • it' v * * % k j A nth J» <£ ULSTER'S FIRST AEROPLANE : This picture, taken in 1910, shows Mr. Harry Fergusson's monoplane just before a trial flight. Note the " A.A." badge. East African Schoolboys' Air Party A VERY successful schoolboys' party was recently '."•;t!flf by the Aero Club of East Africa t0 insti11 air-.|«nae(iness into the minds of local boys. A height- bP ?Ing,,Competition was held- and the guesses, they could the w- nothing else' ranged from 420 ft. 1o 1,700 ft., or (n?nne5 be&* Master Earnest Bigwood, who estimated 1 600 ft the hei&ht t0 be 1650 ft- actually it was A scramble for tennis balls dropped from a & plane was not quite such a success, perhaps because it was held after tea, and the energy of the boys was somewhat handicapped by the amount eaten. Imperial Airways kindly allowed the boys to look over the Mailplane which arrived during the afternoon. Two Club machines gave a display of flying during the afternoon, and members gave constructive lectures upon the mysteries of flight ; the questions asked by the boys indicated that they had very shrewd ideas regarding the theory of flight. 677
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