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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0386.PDF
FLIGHT, APRIL 19, 1934 A TIGHT FORMATION : Although this was the first display since last year, Sir Alan Cobham's pilots maintained his tradition of efficiency by their excellent formation flying. (FLIGHT Photo.) The "Lincock," being a single-seater fighter, is especially suitable for high-speed aerobatics, and its* value is enhanced as it is fitted with Marconi wireless so that the pilot can broadcast an impression from the air while performing. Apart from these items and others of a similar nature, Mr. Ivor Price does parachute drops both by the " pull-off " method and by a free fall, and the lighter element is introduced by a humorous event staged by Mr. Martin Hearne. On Saturday the display started with a formation which was really very good, especially in view of the small amount of practice which the pilots have yet had this year. The next event was a demonstration by the Auto- giro, and we suggest that the announcer should have a few words with the pilot of this type of flying machine. He will then learn that his statement that " the rotating blades are not for lifting but only for stabilising " is, to put it mildly, rather wide of fact. Mr. Tyson's displays on the " Lincock " and " Tiger Moth " were clean, but we cannot help deprecating the spirit which leads him to fly so low and close to the crowd, particularly when inverted. An error of judgment or an untoward occurrence under those conditions would produce an accident, doing incalculable harm to aviation as a whole. Mr. Price's judgment was excellent when he made his first " pull- off," and his landing on his feet near the centre of the aerodrome showed his mastery of the technique of para- chuting. Mr. Tyson is the " stunt merchant " of the Display and he performs not only normal, though studiedly spec- tacular aerobatics, but also in special " stunts " like flying beneath a string stretched between two posts and looping over it, and also picking up a handkerchief from the ground by a sprung spike on his wing tip. He is also the pilot who " bombs " those who take part in the humorous event. He is very accurate indeed in this latter, but here again takes, we feel, undue risks in his desire to give the public a good show. Many times he had his aeroplane in such a position that an accident would have been more than likely had his engine failed. The handling of his machine, however, leaves no doubt about his ability as a pilot. The organisation behind a concern of this nature is astonishing. First there are the pilots: Fit. Lt. H. C. Johnson is the chief pilot and the others are:—Mr. C. W. Bebb, Mr. W. V. Creates, Mr. W. H. Easdown, Mr. J. R. King, Capt P. Phillips, Maj. H. G. Travers, Mr. G. Tyson and Miss Joan Meakin. The general manager is Mr. D. L. Eskell, and the publicity manager Mr. E. M. Rossiter, while Mr. Ivor Price does the parachute work and Mr. T. Bullmore attends to the microphone. Then, Sir Alan tells us, he has a gate manager with a staff of five and four ground police, ten engineers, six cleaners, three loaders, two electricians, one motor-car engineer, one time-keeper, eight night staff, two camp staff, six publicity men and six in the London office. To transport all this staff around the 163 towns which it is planned to visit this year before September 30, when the tour finishes near London, requires a considerable amount of ground transport, as well as the space in the aeroplanes, and this is provided by 16 hord vehicles of various sorts—Sif Alan himself uses a Siddeley " Special," the latest 30-h.p., 90-m.p.h., product of the Armstrong-Siddeley motor-car works. The majority of the staff live in tents which have been made for them by the Dunlop Rubber Company. Wake- fields—to judge from the lettering thereon—have evidently had a hand in providing the large amount of screening which bounds the landing grounds. Marconi's have in- stalled their radio apparatus, both in the " Lincock " and the radio van, which latter also houses the loudspeaker INVERTED : A " Tiger Moth " being flown low and inverted over the spectators at Dagenham. (FLIGHT Photo.) 386
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