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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0721.PDF
APRIL HTH. 1946 369 The Short 225 bomber on "which Parker was invited to break his neck. Note the position of the air gunner Military load, 8 y 112 lb. bombs. 1,450ft, which was at least 200ft higher than any other pupil had taken one, and the loneliness brought on by the effect of remoteness at that con- siderable height almost .frightened him. At the end of 1914 he went to Hen- don to the Hall School of Flying as an instructor, but as there was at that period only one machine available, In- decided to go to Windermere to try his hand at seaplane flying. It should be remembered that Parker has a game leg which precluded him from entering any of the Services in the 1914-18 war. The Last £25 Flying the Waterhen at Windermere cost £10 per hour, and Lankester- Parker arrived with his Last £25 ; book ing two hours' flying. Rowland Ding —an exponent of the Handley Page aircraft of those days—was the in- structor. In the Waterhen the pilot was in front and the pupil sat behind, leaning over to take the controls. The front elevator, which was intercon- nected to the rear elevator, was badly overbalanced; the first take-over surprised Parker a good deal and Ding even more. Parker was grounded for ham- • fistedness. Ding then went off for the week-end, leaving behind a number of disgruntled pupils. Without more ado Parker got the machine out and, taking up pupils, put in 50 Span, 85ft. Experimental prototype. The Short Mussel which Parker flew in such a varietyof forms as a normal twin-wheel aircraft, a twin-float seaplane, a single-float amphibian and as a one-wheel landplane. flights that week-end—an unprecedented number in such a short while. Having decided it was no worse to-be killed for a sheep than for a lamb, he even sent one pupil solo Contrary to expectation, on his return Ding was delighted. After such a performance Parker was appointed an in- structor without pay. He took this on purely for the sake The Short Shetland which was the last prototype on which Lankester-Parker made the first flights.
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