Читать книгу H. G. Hawker, airman: his life and work онлайн

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During March, 1913, the first tests of the Sopwith “Bat Boat,” which had made its début at the Olympia Show, were carried out at Cowes. Sopwith, whose motor-boat experience stood him in good stead, first took the machine out, but although a speed of sixty miles per hour was attained, the machine would not leave the water. Harry had a shot at it, but with no better success. Sopwith, making another effort, rose a few feet, but the hull landed heavily and was damaged. Left out all night on the beach, the machine was almost destroyed by a gale, one report circulating to the effect that only the engine and propeller remained intact!

Harry was not hampered by any scruples with regard to trading on the Sabbath, for on Sunday, April 13th, 1913, he set out to play the rôle of aeroplane salesman, and incidentally to make his Hendon début. The specific purpose of his flight on the Sopwith-Wright from Brooklands to Hendon was to offer the machine for sale to the Grahame-White Company, whom he regarded as good potential purchasers, as they had recently sold two of their machines to the War Office and would require others to replace them in order to cope with increasing demands for exhibition and passenger flights at the London aerodrome. On the way there he had a forced landing at Wormwood Scrubbs, but was able to proceed and complete the whole journey in 40 minutes, inclusive of the delay. He terminated the flight by making several circuits of the aerodrome at Hendon, and subsequently made a number of other exhibition and passenger flights which demonstrated the wonderful handiness and airworthiness of the machine. His passengers during the afternoon included Manton and Gates, both well-known pilots of the Grahame-White Company. Passengers were greatly impressed by the stability of the machine and the strangeness of sitting on one side of the engine. Landing, too, was rather a new sensation, as the seats were so low in comparison with those of other types that to one on the point of touching the ground the landing chassis seemed to have fallen off!