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Aviation History
1934
1934 - 0602.PDF
FLIGHT, JUNE 21, 1934 R.A.F. Flying Club's Display Fine Flying by Members of the Royal Air Force Flying Club at Hatfield, in the presence of ; H.R.H. Prince George PECTATORS at the first meeting of the Royal Air Force Flying Club, on Saturday, saw some of the finest flying it has been our pleasure to witness. Last year when the Club held their meeting the membership was confined to members of the R.A.F. Reserve, but recently it has been extended to include past and present officers of all the Flying Services in the country, including ex-R.N.A.S. and R.F.C. Officers and past and present members of the Air Squadrons of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and the number of members has therefore grown very considerably. Their meeting this year was graced by the presence of H.R.H. Prince George, who arrived by air from Reading exactly at the announced hour of 4 p.m. He was accom- panied by Maj. H. Butler, and was flying in a D.H. "Dragon" (two "Gipsy Majors"), the property of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, piloted by Fit. Lt. E. H. Fielden. J On the aerodrome to welcome the Prince were Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Trenchard, President of the Club ; Lt. Col. F. C. Shelmerdine, Director of Civil Avia- tion ; Capt. G. de Havilland and Sir Harry Brittain, Vice- Presidents of the Club ; Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir John Salmond ; P/O. R. E. G. Brittain, Chairman of the Club's Committee ; F/Os. W. A. Hammerton and A. G. Lamplugh, Vice-Chairmen of the Committee. After a preliminary event, wherein members of the four R.A.F. Reserve Training Schools competed in a " Bombing the Car " contest, the main programme was opened by a display of formation flying by Nos. 600 and 601 (Bomber) Squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force, commanded by Sqd. Ldrs. S. B. Collett and N. Norman. Excellent flying and accurate changing of formation while over the aerodrome were seen, and once again the A.A.F. proved that their flying is quite up to the standard of the R.A.F. Itself. Event II was both amusing and instructive. F/O. T. W. Campell went through a series of manoeuvres as they ought to be done, and then Sgt. Pilot W. L. Palmer attempted to imitate him in the clumsy manner of an inexperienced pupil. Both are instructors of the Bristol Aeroplane Co's. School and were flying " Tiger Moths." Event III was a display of the Gloster " Gauntlet " (Bristol " Mercury ") by F/O. P. E. G. Sayer. The machine has been chosen as the standard day and night fighter in the R.A.F. It has an exceedingly high perform- ance and has not been seen very much in public. F/O. Sayer showed off its wonderful manoeuvrability in an admirable manner, particularly by demonstrating repeatedly its unusually small turning circle, even when flying at speeds of about 200 m.p.h. The " Mercury " engine had an impressive lack of noise when it was running, quite unlike other high-powered engines used in Service air- craft, and gave a sense of suppressed, but readily avail- able, power. The beautiful manner in which F/O. Sayer carried out slow rolls, although climbing to a very steep angle, was a joy to see. Event IV was inverted and aerobatic flying on an Avro " Cadet " (Siddeley " Genet ") by an instructor from the A.S.T. School at Hamble, F/O. A. J. Tunnard. The " Cadet " is one of the most beautiful light aeroplanes to handle, and F/O. Tunnard showed that it is capable of all the ordinary manoeuvres of fighting aircraft which have engines of much greater horse-power and that it is, there- fore, an excellent machine for training. Having only 140 h.p., his performance was naturally not so spectacular as some of the others, but was none the less smooth, and exhibited his control of this machine. Event V, which took place shortly after the arrival of the Royal party, was a change, because the aeroplane used was only a means to an end. It, the aeroplane, was one of the new Stinson four-seater cabin monoplanes replete with every device which is calculated to make the comfort-loving busi- ness man use the air for his dollar- making journeys. On this occa- sion Mr. Leslie Irvin, the owner, was flying it, and in the back, with one of the cabin doors re- moved, he had Mr. J. Tranum ready to demonstrate one of the parachutes which have made the name of Irvin famous throughout the world. The demonstration was to take the form of a delayed d|rop, so after taking off, Mr. Irvin, also wearing one of his parachutes, as is his invariable custom, climbed his Stinson to a fairly high altitude. Then when placed up-wind with regard to the aerodrome, Mr. Tranum dived out of the cabin. Following, there was a somewhat agonised wait while he fell a thousand feet or so before a gasp of relief went up when he decided that he had de- layed long enough and therefore pulled his rip cord. He had ON HATFIELD'S TERRACE : (Left to right) Lady Trenchard, F/O. W. A. Hammerton, P/O. R. E. Brittain, H.R.H. Prince George, Capt. A. L. Lamplugh, Sir Harry Brittain. (FLIGHT Photo.1 602
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