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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1406.PDF
TI4 FLIGHT, 27 July 1950 THE . YORKSHIRE RACES Two New Records Set Up: Three ..^^Well-contested Iv (Illustrated with "Flight" Photographs) 'e^tiiiK ha:s been stageorin*Y'orkshire, and in spite of threatening weather and the comparative inaccessibility of the airfield, a large, cheery and enthusiastic crowd—estimated at 30,000— gathered at Sherburn-in-Elmet last Saturday, July 22nd. They were there to see the races for the S.B.A.C. Challenge Cup, the Air League Challenge Cup and the Yorkshire Aeroplane Club's own Trophy. A number of flying events, in addition to the races, helped to complete an afternoon's excellent entertainment—only slightly interrupted by the occasional shower—upon which the Yorkshire club, the oldest in the country, is to be congratulated. During the morning there was the usual practice and pre-paration, but there was also an air of suspense: it centred upon a hanger in which frantic efforts were being made toinstall a new Ghost turbojet in the Venom. Could the aircraft be made ready in time? On all sides one heard discussed theremarkably fine forced landing on Sherburn airfield which John Derry had pulled off on the previous evening. Approach-iiig the finish of a practice lap of the 100-km course at very high speed, his engine cut dead; the aircraft could be seen tofalter momentarily and then zoom as Derry gained height either to get out—if that was inevitable—or to make a half-circuit and glide landing. Fortunately the latter course proved possible and by magnificent judgment, in spite of feeling rathershaken, the pilot put the aircraft down unharmed. De Havil- lands said later that installation details of the G in the Venom had not been fully developed, most of the test flyingto date having been done at altitude. Then began the council of war and the all-night task offetching another engine and installing it. Unfortunately, although the work was completed by mid-afternoon it waseventually thought advisable not to race the Venom after all and rules were waived to allow the substitution of a productionVampire 5, ferried by John Cunningham from Hatfield. For most people the programme proper started with thedeparture of a Bristol Sycamore helicopter to collect the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Alderman F. O'Donnell, from WoodhouseMoor, near the city centre. Before he arrived, however, several of the larger racing aircraft made practice flights, in-cluding the Attacker, the pilot of which (Michael Lithgow) wished, among other things, to use up some of the fuel in thelarge long-range belly tank to facilitate its removal. The Lord Mayor having landed, the first machines in theYoikshire Club's race, already on the starting line, took off. First away was the Tipsy open side-by-side trainer (K. C.Milligan) "with a big start—5| min—on the Tiger Moth (S/L. W. Evans) from the Newcastle Club. Nine aircraft com-peted, scratch man being Ron Paine in the Hawk Speed Six. At the end of the first of three laps of the I7j-mile course,the Tiger was moving up fast on the little Tipsy, which was cbviously having a very rough ride, and D. H. Wyatt's CirrusMinor II Auster V, J/i (sic) was going very well. Paine and I ashbrook (the latter in his light blue Proctor III) looked even•faster than usual. As the race progressed the Speed Six seemed to have an increasingly good chance and the AusterTiger were having a good tussle. Eventually, to most anpeople's surprise, S/L. Evans' old blue Tiger came in a fairly easy first with Wyatt's cream Auster and Paine's Speed Sixracing for second and third places. The Tipsy retired and Hayhow's Auster and Lashbrook'sProctor were disqualified for cutting corners. The engine of Alington's Sparrowhawk unfortunately had impulse-starter Winner of the S.B.A.C. Cup, Lithgow crosses the line in the Supermarine Attacker. A smoke marker indicates the finish. trouble and failed to get away. Cole, another non-starter, hadbad luck during morning practice, when he damaged his air- screw blade-tips while taxying over the rough field. The winning Tiger achieved the excellent speed of 107.5n: p.h. Close examination revealed removal of slots and anti- spin straights and the fairing-off of struts, pitot tubes andsuch points as the leads-in to the tail surfaces. YORKSHIRE AEROPLANE CLUB TROPHY Poi. 1 2 3 4 5 Start 2 >-. 4 Scr.' 6 5 Competitor, Aircraft and engine W. Evans (Tiger Moth, Gipsy Maj. 1) D. H. Wyatt (Auster V, Cirrus Minor II) > R. R. Paine (Hawk Speed Six, G. Six II) J. N. Somers (Gemini, Gipsy Maj. Ic) J. K. Astin (Proctor IV, Gipsy Queen II) Handicap m. s. 05 47 06 56 18 59 16 32 14 42 Speedm.p.h. 107.5 110.0 178.5 157.5 143.0 Prizes.—Winner receives Yorkshire Aeroplane Club Trophy. Cash prizes, 1st, £100; 2nd, £50; 3rd, £25. Spitfires of No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron, R.Aux.A.F.next entertained with formation drill and individual aerobatics, after taking off in pairs. Later four Meteors of No. 257Squadron, with three in vie and " one in the box," gave a remarkably fine display of formation aerobatics. Polishedrolls and loops were made despite the patches of low cloud and mediocre visibility. If only because of the variety of aircraft types which com-pete, the Air League Handicap is always most exciting. Both foreign entries, the Italian Fiat G-46 and Norwegian B.H.T. Ihad unfortunately withdrawn, but except for the substitution of Miss J. Bird for LA. Forbes as pilot of the Nighthawk, allwas according to programme. Somers' Major Gemini was exactly as entered for the King's Cup; Paine's Speed Sixwas reported to have had its airscrew-blade area slightly further reduced. The non-civil aircraft, all naval types, were, ofcourse, stripped of hooks and so on. The Sea Fury was short of its gills and the Firebrand had a large direct air-intake The Vickers Supermarine Seagull I, flown by L. R. Colquhoun, was fourth in the Air League Cup Race and secured a record.
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