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

48 страница из 69

On Whit-Monday, May 12th, 1913, at Brooklands, Harry was one of three starters in the Whitsun Cross-Country Aeroplane Handicap. Rain fell during the race. Alcock was first away on Ducrocq’s Henry Farman, but had to abandon the race almost immediately owing to the strong wind nearly blowing his relatively slow machine backwards. Harry was next away on the Tractor, with a start of 76 seconds from Gordon Bell, who flew the 120 h.p. Martin-Handasyde monoplane. Harry made a quicker start than Gordon Bell, who sacrificed several seconds when the starter’s flag fell. At the first turning-point Bell had picked up 36 seconds over Harry, but lost several through turning on an unnecessarily big radius. At the second turn he gained another 10 seconds, but also lost owing to the same cause. Harry won a fine race by 39 seconds. This triumph of the biplane over the monoplane possessed some significance, and seemed to indicate that the greater wing surface of Harry’s machine enabled it to be “banked” more steeply and consequently brought round on a shorter radius when turning.