BOLTS FROM THE BLUE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3444, 12 November 1932, Page 8

BOLTS FROM THE BLUE

BAGS OF FLOUR DROPPED. FINE FOR LOW FLYING. Arising out of an air display at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Captain Talbot Lehmann, of Broomfield aerodrome, Chelmsford, was lately fined £5 for flying to the danger of the public. He gave notice of appeal. It was stated that a bag of flour dropped from an aeroplane fell on a man in the crowd, breaking a pipe in his pocket, while another "bomb" dropped on the back of a car. Evidence was given by Mr. C. F. Richmond, a solicitor, who witnessed the display, that the machine "bombed" a motor cycle with bags of flour and flew over a crowd of several thousand people outside the ground, and bags of flour were thrown on them from an altitude of 20ft. The plane was driven at a great speed, and each time it circled round the crowd outside "bombs" were dropped. Six policemen gave evidence, one stating that the people were frightened when the machine swooped down on them, and hats were blown off by the draught. Captain Lehmann denied dangerous flying, and contended that as the ground had been certified by the Air Ministry he was not responsible for flying at a low altitude, which was necessary because of the situation of the ground. As he was the pilot he had nothing to do with the "bomb" dropping. The crowd was not deliberately "bombed," he declared.