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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0720.PDF
714 FLIGHT UNFORTUNATE SWANSEA Welsh Air Derby Flown in Bad Weather VIRTUALLY for the third time running, an ambitious air display put on by Swansea and District Flying Club has been largely washed-out through bad weather. In addition to the Welsh Air Derby, a handicap race over four laps of a 22|-mile circuit, there was to have been, last Saturday, May 30th : formation displays by Canberras of No. 109 Squadron, Vampires of No. 233 O.C.U. and Le Patrouille d'Etampes; parachute displays by Miss Phyllis Weir and Johnny Railing; and individual aerobatics by S/L. Mercer (Vampire) of No. 11 Fighter Group H.Q. In the event only die race, and the Vampire and Patrouille formations, took place. Around 3 p.m. the weather was very threatening; it had been drizzling all morning, and Met. said there was no hope of any improvement. And it was a sorry little gathering in the clubhouse which was addressed by die Hon. George Ward, Under-Secretary of State for Air (who had arrived in his Devon to open die display) and the Mayor of Swansea, Cllr. D. J. Fisher. But, in spite of the outside forecasts, it appeared that the cloud base really was going up. Eventually came the good news : the race was on, at 4.15 p.m. A field of 16 had originally entered but, as time wore on, it become evident that Fred Dunkerley—who won die last Welsh Air Derby in 1951—would be out of the race, with a troublesome engine vibration in his Miles Mercury. Nat Somers, also, was the victim of unserviceability: his Mew Gull needed new under carriage oleo seals. But he was allowed to race his familiar Gemini and this he did, without even removing the generator fan. The other competitors were all flying familiar types, with the exception of Arthur Jones, the local C.F.I., who had the Swansea B.A. Swallow—a Pobjoy-engined machine with its front cockpit faired over. This Swallow was, in fact, first away. But its handicap was certainly not overlong, particularly as the strong wind was sure to affect the slower competitors to a greater extent. Visibility was good, but the race was flown in bumpy, gusty conditions, which made the ride rather uncomfortable for some. The Swallow was sent off towards 4.20 p.m. After it had gone puttering away, there was a wait of several minutes before the Tiger followed; during this period Somers could be seen keeping both his Gipsies at a fast idling speed while, in contrast, Jemmett had his Hawk Major cowling open and was feverishly working at some snag. After the Bowies' Messenger had departed, the Swal low was seen as a speck off Oxwich Point, on course for the airfield. Before it arrived the gaggle of Proctors took off, several slewing to starboard into wind and getting away in a steep turn to port. Nearly all competitors, incidentally, went through large puddles before becoming airborne. As the field began to complete its first lap it became evident how difficult the wind was making things for all except the more experienced racers. Turns were generally very wide around the airfield pylon, and it appeared that many pilots could have pointed more into wind without cutting the corner. The Leopard Moth, on die other hand, began to turn far too soon and eventually rounded the pylon in a very unpolished manner. Holloway, in the Proctor I, came past very wide and then set a wrong course WELSH AIR DERBY PI. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pilot S. A. Holloway ... J, NT Somers G. R. 1. Porker ... J. Rush P. Hillwood J. P. Crowther W. P. Bowles R. R. Paine H. J. G. Turner ... A. J. Spiller W. P. 1. Fillingham O. FiczGerald C. H. Davies D. C. Jem meet A. Jones Aircraft Proctor 1 Gemini III ... Proctor V Falcon Six Proctor 1 Proctor III Messenger lla Hawk Speed Six ... Proctor III Leopard Moth Chipmunk 1 Nighthawk Tiger Moth Hawk Trainer III ... B. A. Swallow Start order 11 12 8 14 9 10 5 15 7 3 6 13 2 4 1 H 'cap. time m. s. 16 10 17 05 14 45 18 25 15 00 15 15 12 00 21 15 14 15 11 10 13 55 17 25 03 45 11 20 00 00 Av. speed m.p.h. 153 158 143.5 164 143.5 144.5 129.5 184 137 124 134.5 152 100 122.5 88 "Flight" photograph- Winner of the 1953 Welsh Air Derby, S. A. Holloway—a newcomer to racing. His mount was a Proctor I which he had himself modified. which must have cost him many precious seconds. But Somers, Fillingham and Paine, particularly, were cornering in the best professional manner: a vertical bank, and the aircraft pulled round very tightly as the pylon appeared underneath. At this stage a most surprising report was received : the No. 25 Group R.O.C. observers at Oxwich telephoned that all competitors except one had turned incorrectly at their corner. It was only when the observers reported in person, after the race, that this was found not to have been the case; if it had, presumably the race would have been declared abandoned. The only obvious changes in position were "Sailor" Parker, who moved up in the first lap; Bowles, who passed two in two laps; and the Tiger, which beat the Swansea Swallow on the second lap. One point worth noting is that, at the end of the second lap, Holloway approached the airfield with the Chipmunk and seemed to be rapidly overhauling it. But came the turn: Fillingham turned spot-on-the-pylon while the Proctor swept round wide and set course again some hundred yards behind. But Holloway was the first man home, as the table shows. He is an engineer employed by Airwork at Langley. Although he first flew in 1938, he is not an experienced pilot and had not, in fact, raced before. He did not even go round the course prior to the race; he tried on the morning of the race, but got lost in the haze and saw only one turning point. The Proctor was quite standard, except for a new exhaust and cowling arrangement— devised by Mr. Holloway—which was illustrated on p. 323 of our issue of September 5th last in connection with its appearence in the Siddeley Trophy race at Baginton last summer, when it did 166 m.p.h. After the race, the Patrouille put on one of their superb shows; in spite of the gusty weather they even managed to keep station during their "vertical spectacles," which involve a normal loop and an outside loop in succession. And so ended a day which, although it produced a fine race, was a bitter disappointment to the hard-working Swansea flying folk. They must have shown a very severe financial loss, although the Corporation guaranteed them JC35°> an(i, we believe, all winning pilots turned over their prize money to the Qub. "Better luck next time" is the appropriate comment. W. T. G. BRITISH AIR RACING CHAMPIONSHIP Welsh Air Derby points 13 11 5 7 9 15 17 6 0 3 0 2 Total 33 27 27 25 21 18 17 15 14 13 11 9 Parke . FitzGeral Jemmet cap 6 7 4 8 5 5 2 1 4 1 3 7 3 1 0 s. 1 0 4 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 5 2 4 2 0 m.p.h. 5 144.5 5 134.5 152 100 122.5 88 Competitor G. R. I. Porker ... J. Rush R. R. Paine J. P. Crowther ... P. Hillwood J. N. Somers S. A. Holloway ... W. P. Bowles ... D. J. Bennett ... A. J. Spiller A. S. K. Paine ... W. P. I. Fillingham r y s 11 9 Competitor F. Dunkertey D. C. Jemmett Miss E. L. Curti >> H. J. G. Turner G. C. Marler D. FitzGerald A. Jones ... C. H. Davies G'C. C. M. M. Grece H. C. Willson ... A. Bough Welsh Air Derby points 0 2 0 4 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 Toti 8 7 6 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2
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