GLIDING ’CROSS CHANNEL

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 221, 14 June 1930, Page 29

GLIDING ’CROSS CHANNEL

£lOOO PRIZE OFFERED

A great chance for adventurous young men is provided by the offer of a £lOOO prize for the first British pilot to cross the English Channel in a glider or motorless aeroplane. In a single swoop the successful competitor may make both history and fortune: but he must dare the risks.

The offer has been made to the newly-formed British Gliding Association by Mr. A. J. A. Wallace Barr, on behalf of Messrs. Cellon, Ltd., the aeroplane “dope” manufacturers, and the first attempts are likely to be made early this summer. The “Sunday Chronicle” learns that the announcement of the £lOOO offer to British glider pilots has decided a number of prominent German gliding experts who at present bold all the records for motorless flying, to attempt to be the first to achieve the Channel crossing. , Though, of course, they will not be eligible for the prize, they are keen to secure the honour of making history—and a thrilling international struggle may result. Already, it is understood, gliders are being put under construction for a race to be first in the air over the Channel. Herr Hans Richter, one of the most famous of the German glider pilots, is likely to lie one of the pilots, and Lieut. Dinort, who recently put up a record by remaining in the air for over 14 hour's in a “sailplane,” the most advanced type of glider, is expected to be another. Severn 1 French and Belgian airmen are also expected to make the attempt. No names were available at the headquarters of the British Gliding Asso-

elation of British aspirants, but the assurance was given that Britain s gliding honour will be well,defended. “You can take it for granted that we shall do everything in our power. to earn the distinction,” stated an official. “The Royal Aero Club is to draw up the rules.”' Mr. Barr, who announced the £lOOO prize offer, told the “Sunday Chronicle.” “but one of the conditions will be that every machine that competes must be launched into the air by manual power.”

Aeronautical experts regard an engineless flight across the Channel as one of the greatest achievements in the history of aeronautics. Mr. L. Ward-Flanders, secretary of the British Gliding Association, believes that there is a good chance of an Englishman being the first to cross the Channel in an engineless machine. “It is possible to achieve flights of 50 miles or more,” he said, “and there are no great practical difficulties in the way of the projected cross-Channel journey. By going up to, say, 1000 feet above Dover or Lympne it should be a simple matter to reach the French coast.” On the other hand. Mr. Gordon England, an expert on the construction of feather-weight bodies such as are used in engineless’ planes, thinks that it is likely that the German will achieve the feat first. His view is that the English exponents of gliding lack the experience of the Germans. “I do not intend to make the attempt myself.” he told the “Sunday Chronicie,” “but there is no doubt that there are plenty of young Englishmen who will be keen to make the attempt.”