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Aviation History
1938
1938 - 2069.PDF
JULY 21, 1938. FLIGHT. 57 (Left) The Cambridge University Club's Cambridge I in tow behind an Air Publicity Avro 504, flown by Mrs. Crossley. This machine, with an Airwork Gipsy-Cadet, made some scores of tows during the week, operating from Mr. Alan Butler's private aerodrome near-by. (Right) A picture for students of wing design : The Imperial College of Science team's Kirby Kite.' impossible even to the most experienced pilots watching.- The final day, Sunday, was at last a good cross-country one, and .many sail planes departed from both winch and aeroplane launches. Meanwhile, the Seager Trophy was being fought to. a finish. .G. .CI. Smith, in the Gull No. 10, had started the day with a four-lap lead, but Fit. Lt. Shaw slowly caught up his handicap, and soon the two machines were lapping equally again. At the- sixty-fourth lap disaster occurred; .the Grunau left the hill very low, allowing no margin for a lull in the wind or error of any sort, and on the sixty-fifth lap it arrived back at the hill with insufficient height to soar again and had to land. There was no one close enough to challenge for second place, which was lucky-for Shaw, as the tail- skid of the Grunau had broken during the take-off and had to be repaired before it could fly again. Meanwhile, telephone messages were Coming in from all i over South-East England announcing distances achieved. The best was "a 96-mile goal flight in the King Kite by Sqn. Ldr. Watt to Rams- gate Airport. Wills landed in a field near Sittingbourne (70 miles), Dr. Dews- bury reached Gravesend in the Rhon sperber, Peter Davis in the Rhonadler reached Hawkinge Aerodrome (96 miles), and D. F. Greig flew to Colchester in the Grey Kite, attaining the greatest height °i the meeting (5,100ft. above launch). And so the 1938 competitions ended. There was; plenty of fun, in. spite of the rather poor weather conditions; for in stance, there were shows of gliding films m the club-house, including an extra ordinarily v clever cartoon, in the best tJisney tradition, entirely drawn by Lawrence Wright, a member of the London Gliding Club. To finish it up, the writer went on a retrieving party, Speed range : Early in the week Capt. Balfour, Under-Secretary of State for Air, flew the leisurely two-seater Fal con III with Mr. Hugh Bergel (left). A few days before Capt." Balfour had been piloting a Hurricane. arriving back to an empty Dunstable and a slightly intimidating and back-to- earthtsri Monday morning. A postscript, perhaps, might be added by a visitor .who is still journalistically inefficient after the comforting hos pitality offered by Mr. Hexvey (the chief instructor) and Mrs. Hervey, not to men tion Mrs. Turvey, who never appalled at the prospect of catering with incredible efficiency and inexpensiveness for several hundred ravenous enthusiasts. There is something particularly charming' about the gliding fraternity. It will be a sad day if ever Dunstable Downs; are ranged by ornamental gentlemen with angry moustaches and Very pistols. PROVISIONAL RESULTS Open Contest points Rhonsperber (C. Nicholson, Dr. T. P. Dews- bury) 453 •2. King Kite (Sqn. Ldr. P. M. Watt) 445 8. Rhonadler (J. S. Fox, P. B. V. Davies) . . '413 4. Miuimoa (P. A. Wills) 302 Volk Cup (best duration of year).—Fit. Lt. W. B. Murray and J. S. Sproule (Falcon III),-22ir., 13 Win. Wakefield Cup (greatest distance of year).—P. A. Wills (Minmioa), 206 miles. De Havilland Cup (greatest height of year)'.—^P. A. Wills (Minimoa), 10,262ft. , Firth-Vickers Cup (best performance by all-British niaGhine).—Sqn. Ldr. P. M. Watt (King Kite). Manio Cup (best individual performance at meet- ing).—C. Nicholson (Rhonsperber). ' Other Contest Prizes. Height.—D. F. Greig (Kite), 5,100ft. above launch. Distance.—C. Nicholson (Rhonsperber), 104 miles Duration.—V. Chirgwin (Kirby Kite), 6 hr. 15 min. Inter-club Team (Open).—1, Cambridge I team (G. W. Pirie, G. Kidd),.282£.pts. . - Inter-club Class (limited span).—1, Grunau Baby, No. 4 (J. Shepherd, G. O. Thompson, E. Swale),380. Seager Trophy Race.—(1) Derby and Lanes. G.C Kirby Gull; A. Davies, L. R. Robertson, G. O. Smith . 109 laps. (2) Grunau Baby team : Miss Ann Edmonds' Fit. Lt. R. H. Shaw, J. Saffrey ; 64 laps. (3) Gam, bridge II: E. J. Furlong, 17 laps. (4) Airspeed Tern: C. A. Little. A. H. Rcffrll, 11 laps. 1.
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