AVIATION

Grey River Argus, 24 April 1937, Page 12

AVIATION

PAULHAN AND WHITE The great London-Manchester air race of April, 1910—what color it added to the history of those early days of flying and how it roused Englishmen from their lethargy and impressed' upon them, the potential-:, ties of flying and How it roused Englishmen from their lethargy and impressed upon them the- potentialities of the flying machine! All tribute is due to the two men responsible for this glorious page in the history of Bri. Kish aviation, Claud-e Gjrahaine-Wlhite and Louis Paulhan.

The London-Manchester contest will ever be remembered- as the first really

important aerial event in England. It was an epic of great daring and bravery, a s many of those early flying events were. The airmen those days were ever within a second ■ of death, but they knew no fear and when they were beaten they were not broken nor did they allow, their defeat to over, whelm their sporting spirit. B'efore we pass to the thrilling eon. test that placed all England on tiptoe, let us' take a look at the -careers of the two competitors. Graham'e.White was born in 1879, but. tt was not until he- was 30 that he took an interest in flying He was the first English aviator to be granted a pilot’s licence, and, on the eve of the race, we find him omJ of the foremost flying men in England. Paulhan, a Frenchman, distinguished himself at the first European flying meeting at Rheims in July 1909. In England, he flew at Blackpool ami Brooklands, and at Sandown Park he reached the then amazing height of 977 feet. Thus, of the -two competitors -in the race, we find Paulhan the more experienced.

3 The winner was to receive £lO,OOO 1 The conditions did not «stipuate that 1 the men -should take-off together. s Grahame-White was the first away . on the flight, of 183 miles from Lon;(don to Manchester On April 23, 1910 3 he left Park Royal in a Henry Fari man biplane, IP'aulham at this stage / was awaiting- the delivery of his Far. i man machine at Hendon. For two hours, Grahame-White battlt ed' through the air successfully, but i shortly after passing over Rugby the I wind grew stronger and the aviator • was forced down near' Lichfield to await more favorable weather. But this . attempt was doomed to failure. During his wait fit Lichfield, the wind over. , turned his ’plane and smashed it so extensively that the craft had to be , returned to London for repairs. In the meantime, Paulhan’s machine had been delivered to him at Hendon, which was later t 0 become one o f Eng. land’s biggest aerodromes. The ’plane was assembled and, exactly 21 minutes after it had been handed over tio him by the factorv experts, on April 27, Paulhan had it in the air and head, ed for Manchester. It was not until an hour later that Grahame-White was advised of Iv? rival’s take-off. His machine was taken fiom its hangar and, 20 min. alter he

had received the news, the Englishman was in the air and flying flat out in the wake of Paulhan. NIGHT FLIGHT. The Frenchman reached Lichfield just as dusk was falling, but darkness overtook* Grahame. White iiufn he w-i over Roade, 60 miles out from' London. He brought his machine down, but when he learned that Paulhan was 67 miles a head of him and only had 56 miles to go t 0 complete the flight, he decided that a night flight was the only way he could make up the leeway. And thu s the first nignt flight in his. to-iy was made, Grahame-White was fully aware of the dangers of .such a flight, knew that his chances of sue. cess were slender, but he risked this in order Io be first at Manchester.

At 2 a.in. next morning a. number of ears and cycles were marshalled in line aad their lamps fixed on, a hedge at one end o f the flying field. The ’plane was taken f 0 'the other The engine was- started, the Englishman called out a farewell, and the machine raced forward. Faster and faster it travelled, and nearer and' nearer drew the illuminated hedge. r i;ho wheels of the ’plant* were still on the ground. Would the machine do it? Ami then, not a dozen yards thorn the end of the field., (iralmme. White timing the mo. ment for his take-off with perfect judg. Bient. juggled his ’plant' into the' air. He had made the first night take-off! anti, hail' started out on the first emlit flight. *

For milt's | u , followed (he railway line to I\l a tic lies ter, but when only 10 miles I roni the spot where- Paulhan'had spent the night, Fate again stepped in and his ’pl,'tin l was forced down, this limy 107 miles from Loudon. Throe minutes nftcir his rival’s machine- had been forced down, Paulhan look oil on the last leg of his flight to Maneliesler, where ho arrived and am iiexe-tl Hie £ 10,0(10 prize. Buft Grahame-White was not distress, ml at. the Frcnciinmii’s success, and ho is reported' Io have actually called for three cheers for Paulhan from the little throng of people who stood a roti ml his mtic.liino

And so ended the first epic contest in British aviation.-There have been 'hundreds since, but none as historic.or perhaps as gallant as the London-Man-chester race. Both airmen continued flying. Paulhan ke-pt in the forefront of French aviation for many years, ami even now is still a popular figure in French air circles. Grahame. White was the first British airman to bo re-

cognised as a public character. Ho continued to tlia-ill the- British people by his amazing flying. At the outbreak of the Great War he was ap. point, a Flight-Commander, but. resign, ed in 1915 to superintend the carrying out- of Government contracts for budding war ’planes.