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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1244.PDF
Like so many pioneers, the Westland-Hill Pterodactyl (lower left) and (above it) the early rotary-engined Cierva Autogiro evoked universallaughter—though only on account of their deliberately fantastic performances. Especially memorable was the appearance of these historic machines in ' circus ' formation with the Handley Page Gugnunc. On right, D.H. 9As are passing below the same number of Fairey Fawns. way the most successful aerial affair which has ever been held, in this country at least." H.R.H. Prince Henry honoured the occasion (the presence of the King and Queen and other Royal personages was often to be recorded in later years), and top-hatted Winston Churchill was there on that magnificent day, with its loitering, thundery clouds. The programme quoted the war records of pilots in the cross-country race (one officer had '' 34 Huns and 16 balloons" to his credit), and the aircraft, of course, were of wartime vintage—Avro 504s, Bristol Fig-hters, Snipes and Camels, and Handley Page V/ 1500s. Civilian turns— a parachute descent by 21-year-old Sylva Boyden, and aerobatics by Harry Hawkef in his Sopwith Swallow-— contributed to the spectacle. A Martinsyde engaged a Fokker D-7 in combat, and there was a hearty bombing display by Handley Pages. In 1921 the airship R-33 patrolled throughout the day, giving radio assistance to the police in preventing traffic jams and presenting " a most picturesque aspect—at one time looking like burnished silver ; or dark and sinister like a shark; then ghost-like, apparently semi-transparent, fading away into the fleecy clouds." F/O. P. W. S. Bulman performed engagingly in a blue B.A.T., and a Siddeley Siskin, pitted against a Nieuport Nighthawk, evoked the comment by Flight (in the still-current jargon of the Kaiser's war) that "the Siskin is certainly some bus." A formation of Brisfits, with a certain F/L. J. M. Robb, D.F.C., as one of the pilots, was set upon by a Camel, and a " BE.2 XYZ," with smoking chimney, forward /backward stagger and auxiliary undercarriage- cum-weather vane on the top wing, earned the laughter that came so readily in those unsophisticated days. Next year came rain, but 60,000 people watched another great show. The field for the inevitable race must have exercised the spotters of the day, including as it did an Avro 504, Vickers Vimy, Brisfit, S.E.5A, D.H.gA, Martin- syde Buzzard, Sopwith Pup, two varieties of Westland Weasel, an Avro Aldershot and a Snipe. The finale was a powerful Eastern drama, depicting the attack on, and destruction of, a desert stronghold and involving armoured cars, hordes of hostile Wottnots, a force-landed Brisfit and avenging bombers. Exemplifying the training value of the Display was the photographic competition in the 1923 programme; but spectacle was not lacking, especially when the sprightly Bourges bomber led a pair of Nighthawks a dance. The new and experimental types ranged from the ponderous Aldershot bomber to the nominally 3 h.p. A.B.C.-engined Wren, and including a Walrus (the Westland, not the later Supermarine, variety), Flycatcher, Plover, Hanley, Fawn and Grebe. Five S.E.5AS looped, rolled and spun together. Better than ever was the 1924 effort, featuring, inter alia, message picking-up and a stirring show by French Nieuport-Delage fighters. New aircraft names included Hyderabad, Venture, Dormouse, Bullfinch and Woodcock, and air drill by D.H.gAs of 39 and 207 Squadrons was declared to be the finest flying display seen up to that time, both from the spectacular and the technical point of view. Finally, there was an astonishingly realistic torpedo attack by Darts on two large "steamships." By 1925 Flight was referring to the "good old Snipe," Vickers Victorias played their part in the smoky 1927 set-piece.
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