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Aviation History
1936
1936 - 0963.PDF
40& FLIGHT. APRIL 16, I936. BRITAIN'S FIRST "POU" RALLY Big Crowd Watches Aero-% Club's Bank Holiday Meeting Near Southend : Mr. S. V. Appleby Flies a "Pou" from Heston FELICITATIONS to the Aero-8 Flying Club, of Southend-on-Sea, for its enterprise in organising, at its Canute Air Park last Monday, Britain's first Pou-du-Ciel (or, bowdlerised, Flying Flea) rally. At the same time, one feels that they would have been wiser to have waited until such time as a rather larger swarm, flight, flock or incidence of airworthy Fleas could be mustered. As it was, an enormous Bank Holiday crowd, fed for a twelvemonth on newspaper stories of the " The poor man's airplane," invaded Canute Air Park (a commodious, if bumpy, field) with great expec tations; when these were not realised, and when the crowd had in any case brought the proceedings to a standstill by swarm ing all over the field, it expressed its displeasure by a loud and impatient noise on the collective horn of its collective motor car. One felt sorry for the officials, who spent the afternoon very good-temperediy shooing-off humanity which merely walked round in a circle and closed-in again behind the shoo-ers' backs. That no five-year-old tried to stop an airscrew must be put down to sheer luck. The crowd round the machines was so thick that one saw anxious owners of Poux apparently- poking about round its trouser-legs in search of their pets. One also noticed a proud mother, armed with a No. O Brownie, securing a masterpiece for the family album—little Alfie nonchalantly reclining against a Pou's prop., with his numerous brothers and sisters leaning in equally negligent attitudes on the flying wires. On top of all this, the Club was unlucky enough to suffer mishaps—of which more anon—to machines which should have taken part. The Flea circus consisted of seven performers, only two of which carried their performance to the point of definitely flying; the others either buzzed angrily about the grass in an endeavour to fly, or (in the case of those too new and unpre pared) just buzzed. Needless to say, Mr. Stephen Appleby was the star turn. He was not flying his own well-known machine, but one built by the Putman Aircraft Co., of which he is technical director and flight tester. It was a very nicely finished Pou with a Carden Ford engine and a transparent centre section to give the pilot upward view. Mr. Appleby had actually flown it over from Heston via Hatfield the previous day, tak ing thirty minutes to Hatfield and forty-five minutes for the rest of the journey—about forty miles as the crow flies, but probably rather more as the Flea flew, for there were Sunday's historical hailstorms to be dodsred and a really strong wind T--/: '::.^:..-X' ^fcj One of the Aero-8 club machines has a fuselage of un orthodox but pleasing appearance. The engine is a Douglas flat twin. (Flight photograph.) on the port beam. Mr. P. G. Marshall, flying a D.H. Hornet with its air brakes on, did the navigation for the trip, which, with the exception of the same pilot's recent trip to France, is undoubtedly the longest cross-country hop by any British- born Flea. Mr. Appleby's show on Monday, too, was real flying, and everybody was obviously impressed as he purred round the field at a low altitude, coming down-wind at probably 85 or 90 m.p.h. and making steep, clean turns without any ten dency to lose height. A race promised in the programme did not come off, but an anonymous enthusiast in an Aeronca went up and formated on the Pou—and later came down and for mated on trees, hedges, motor cars, bowler hats, or anything else that suggested itself as a pylon. But revenons a nos Poux. E. G. Perman and Co., Ltd., had a couple on view, both with Perman-tuned Ford engines, and Mr. F. W. Broughton flew one in good style. This con cern, by the way, is shortly launching out with something new in the ultra-light line, as reported on page 409. Then there were two of the official club Poux. One is a somewhat weather-beaten affair relegated to the status (so one read on the rudder) of " Taxv-ing machine," but the other has a fuselage far removed from the school of Maestro Mignet and of quite aeroplane-like shape. Usually, one understands, it performs well, but on this occasion Mr. Claude Oscroft, the Club's instructor, had considerable difficulty in divorcing it from earth, and even went to the extent of trying it down hill, which was also down-wind, and hoping the two would cancel out, with a bit left over in his favour. Tivo'Stroke Power Though not quite readv to take the air, Mr. C. E. Mercers POM was a beautifully finished job, with evidence of suf*" careful workmanship in every detail. The engine is a 75 • ' Scott inverted two-stroke twin (28 b.h.p. at 6,000 r-Pm)' the yowl (and smell) which it made must have conjurea ut, visions of Southport sands and Manxland in the mini the motor cyclists present. rV Lastly, there was Mr. C. M. Cooper's G-AEEI, agw> ^ nicely finished, and with an Austin Seven engine ?earcfaor ust by means of a chain drive. The owner was looking I _ another 100 r.p.m., and is confident of finding it by ratio alteration. v-e have So much for the performers. Of the performance, ^ *n0thff, already indicated, little can be said for, one way ana „ most of the things that were down in the programme to j . failed to do so. But three things not in the Prograffl^]s %'ere to fill the gaps as far as the spectators and the news' e(]jngS concerned. Some little time before the official P tne began, the Club's B.A.C. Drone was being taxied aLstarved, had oegan, xne I^IUD s JB.A..^. urone was ucmg ++ r starv aerodrome when a petrol pipe broke. The carburet ® ' ' e | spat indignantly, and the escaping fuel lit up. ^'j^.on * the presence of mind to swing the machine broa
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