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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1468.PDF
240 FLIGHT WORLD BEATER: John Cunningham taxies past the enclosures before taking- off to beat the 100 km record. Below) The large crowd in the members' en- closure watch the high speed turns over ' the airfield. The Racing at Lympne. .. closed circuit. At 3 o'clock promptly Paul Godfrey took off in the B.A. Swallow, and it seemed to be a hope- less task for the T.K.2, as it started on its first lap, to catch up with the Swallow, which by then was well round the second lap. Porteous in the Chilton and Filling- ham's T.K.2 flew on for a further lap in an attempt to beat existing class records for the 100 km closed circuit. Both aircraft were successful in this, the T.K.2 averaging 178.33 m.p.h. and the Chilton 123.72 m.p.h. The winners of the Folkestone Aero Trophy were Paul Godfrey in the B.A. Swallow at 99 m.p.h., followed by Mr. Moseley in the Tipsy B, with the Chilton third. In order to work up to the crescendo of the high-speed race, the Tiger Moth one-class scratch race followed next. This proved to be an interesting affair with much, more atmosphere than the previous race. The Tigers went off in a mass start and flew over a ten-mile course for four laps, during which time they were not out of sight, although only when they crossed the airfield was it possible to distinguish the leaders. The winner was Mr. F. Kirk, who just managed to maintain a lead over W/C. Arthur. The Start The high spot of the afternoon was, of course, the Lympne High-speed Handicap Race. First away was Gordon Slade in the Fairey Firefly Trainer, with 6 min 51 sec start. He was followed, surprisingly soon after by Peter Twiss in the Firefly IV with 6 min 17 sec start. Again quite closely, Charles Flood took off with 5 min 54 sec start in the Firebrand, and the Spitfire VIII Trainer, flown by Guy Morgan, followed with a start of 5 min 9 sec. Bill Humble in his Fury then left, 3 min 28 sec ahead of the Vampire. At the end of the first lap the order was unchanged and the Vampire took off just as Bill Humble made a wide but very smooth turn over the airfield on completing his first lap. On the second time round the different techniques were quite distinguishable, and Slade, still in the lead, was making tight turns close in and losing very little ground. Peter Twiss, on the other hand, was coming into the corner closely, but overshooting slightly, and Flood was taking them in a more gentle sweep. The Spitfire Trainer, how- ever, was flown up to the corner rather wide and was then whipped into a steeply banked turn to cut off the corner. On this second lap Morgan's Spitfire was taking the home turn as the Vampire came round the corner at Hythe, and John Cunningham held the steeply banked turn in a wide sweep over the airfield to complete the first lap. Bill Humble then followed, and his technique was rather similar to Cunningham's, but, of course, not nearly so wide though equally gentle. In an incredibly short time the Vampire was round again on its second lap, having passed AIRCRAFT PARK: The machines for the High-speed Race parked in the front line for all to see.
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