THE R.A.F. DISPLAY

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 36, 11 August 1930, Page 9

THE R.A.F. DISPLAY

MASTERLY CONTROL

THE SCENE AT HENDON

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, 3rd July. "If an airtnan loses his life to-day through any a,eeid.ent a.t a reasonable height it is hip Q.W& fault." This was an airman's statement to. me aftef the great pageant at Hendqn last Saturday. After watching the dare-devils of the air all the afternoon on was forced to the conclusion they are taking greater risks than they ever did. Is it because they feel a greater confidenco with their parachutes and the nicely adjusted aud tested apparatus which releases them in a moment? One learned from, this airman, how, with a, flick of the thumb, a pilot can free himself from the harness that holds him in the 'plane; and how when he jumps into space he counts three, gives a jerk to a chain on his breast, and the life-saving parachute opens out to the air.

However, there have, been men who have lost their heads, op their downward plunge to earth, and have forgotten to pull the ehalnThere was a blue sky and sunshine, with a fresh breeze, for the Air Pageant on Saturday. No one can give an accurate estimate of the number of people inside the ground, but we know that the takings at the gates were £1500 more than last year. Within the aerodrome last year there were 130,000. There were probably 30,000 more this, year. The surrounding hills were black; with people; in the car parks there were 12,000 cars. Prince George, representing the King, was in the Boyal Pavilipn, and with him were Boyal visitors from Japan, from Greece, and Siam. 4H the delegates qf the Empire Press Conference were present. For them this was tha last of all the remarkable spectacles they have been privileged to witness during their wonderful month in this country. PRECISION OP EVENTS, Apart from the entertainment and the thrills, the public felt extra admiration iqv the, precision with which the programme was executed. Eyory event was timed to thq minute. Tho* parade pf six squadrons wag the culminating prpof^ pf control and cooperation in combined work, In quick succession the three squadrons of fighters and three of bombers took off and wheeled in formation to the distant horizon while other events topk pjaee. When their next turn came they were in proper position to. make their roaring dives across the aerodrome in front of the Koya] pavilion, and then again they were away while the programme van on until it was tinig for the bombers to come back, first in great arrqw-heads, th^n in flights, and finally jn line ahead, which was turned finally itjto a wide circle of ?7 machines moving like a njerry,p,round in the sky. Long before the official programme began people saw the great airliner 8101 in the sky. She had started frqm Oardingtpn in the morning, and sailed over London, toured down the Thames Estuary, and came slowly to. Hendon Sefqre her time. All silver in the smir light, she looked not unlike a lazy fish in a very clear streatn. Fpr a tiuie she seemed to be hovering above the fields outside the aerodrome looking on at the great pageant.

When the time came for the ah1 liner to exhibit herself, she circled down low enough for the people to sco the revolving prqpellers mid to distinguish overy feature on the outer ease, but not low enough to impress one with her great length of 732 ft. A thousand feet of skyward distance makes the monster a thing of apparently modest propor-

tions. When ono remembered that the control cabin in a chamber of very roomy proportions, and in the air looked as big as a man's flst, it helped one fo remember the size of ElOl. She is now in readiness for her trip to Egypt and India. SIX PARACHUTISTS. Six parachutists stood on tho wings; of three aircraft while the latter slowly circled up to 2000 ft. At a given signal they released their parachutes, which were opened by tho passing wind. Six men at ono and tho samo time were pulled into giddy space, swung below their parachutes, and started off to earth. Minor injuries are always pos- j sible, and motor ambulances were ready. Pivo got down safely, and were j immediately on their feet. One drifted towards the grandstand ' and the crowds. Hs showed, however, how, by manipulating tho rojjes, the parachute could be controlled, and lie cainu down in clear ground.

Undoubtedly, one of the most spectacular and dining fonts was No. 43 Squadron's display of formation flying, each Hight of threo being tied together by elastic ropes strung with flags. They actually looped tho loop tied together, so porfectly timed was their -drilling. Finally they broke their links, flying off with trailing ropes of flags. Thoro was crazy flying again, a daring exhibition by two airmen, who made their 'planes stagger and gavotte absurdly round tho aerodrome and not fifty feet above the ground. There was tho destruction of the observation balloon by an enemy fighter which reminded one of the boforc-breaUfast tours of many an intrepid airmail in. wartime. It is interesting to learn that tho "sausage" balloon is ■now out of date, and that observation .in future wars will bo done- by aeror planes only. One of the most spectacular items was that in which throe machines performed a series of acrobatics marking their paths with emitted coloured amoke. The outside 'planes, loft a trail of orango smoke, and the middle one a trail of white smoke. NEW TYPES OF 'PLANES. Great interest was taken in the parade of new and experimental types of 'planes. Firefly 11, and BuJl Pup are both interceptor fighters. (West--land Wapiti, for army co-operation work; the Hawker Hart, a day bomber; Lincook, a training aircraft; Puss Moth, a civil aircraft; Cutty Sari?, a twinengined amphibian; and three or four unnamed army 'planes showed thoir paces. Later on, one saw tho autogyro, tho windmill 'plane, the tailless pterodactyl, and the Handley-Page Gugnunc, a slotted safety aircraft. The new do Havilland interceptor monoplane received special attention, and though no risks were taken by its pilot, its speed and climbing abilities, secured with much less power by the small head resistance of its new engine, seemed to justify most of what had been claimed for it. There was much public interest, too, in the Puss Moth, the high-wing cabin monoplane of the type which the Prince of Wales has ordered for.his own use.

The principal air fight pf the day was tho combat between threo Bulldogs and a Horsley, a fair match, for such a two-seater is a formidable opponent of single-seaters, which can only fire straight ahead.

This was a fight at far greater speeds than any in the war, and no matter how cleverly tho lighters manoeuvred after a dash at the enemy, they were carried a great distance before they could return tp the attack, _, Purely as a spectacle, the individual aerobatics by two pairs of machines were magnificent. Flying Officers B. Stokes and C. K. Turner-Hugh cs on Siskins gave loops and rolls timed so accurately that they might have been ono and offered the thrilling sight of fast spins down from about 3000 ft to less than 1000 ft, their rßaehines glistening like silver darts in tho sunshine. Flying Officers J. F. X. M^Kenna and D. S. M'Dougall did similar things still faster on Gamecocks, substituting for the spin upward corkscrews at the top of steep climbs. Inverted flying in formation by five Moths was a wonderful item, but it needed imagination to picture the pilots hanging upside down, facing dials and indicators and engine, which were for them still in the right postion but with the green fields and the packed enclosures above their heads where the sky should be. The last scene of the day was a piece of work demanding at least four distinct services, and illustrating the purposes of modern aircraft on occasions which a few years ago would have called for the assistance of a military or naval expedition. A mutinous crew had turned pirates. They had installed themselves, with two stolen aircraft, in a planter's house. Their stronghold had to be destroyed, they thomselvos exterminated or taken prisoners, and their booty recovered.

In less than half an hour the job was done, making a famous spectacle of bombed and burning buildings, and giving oculai* proqf of the ease with which land operations may be linked up with those of the air. The pirates were first called upon, in a message dropped from tho skies, to surrender, and their replies were anti-aircraft shells bursting in flash and smoke under the tail of the messenger. Two squadrons of fighters then took up the argument with piachine-guns, and bombers followed them to destroy the pirates' aircraft on the ground and %p drive tho main body out of their stronghold. When they returned to complete the work, the piratos wore offering to surrender, ana the turn of the troopcarriers, such as served Kabul, had come.

Three of the twin-engined Victorias planed down in front of the stronghold, disgorged their troops, arid waited until the pirates wore ronnded up and marched into the aeroplane^ with their guards. Meanwhilo the bombers had recovered tho loot and loaded it; and as loot and prisoners flew off to the base, a few big bombs reduced their lair to a mass of burning timber.