MRS. GEORGE HAWKER—
HARRY’S MOTHER.
HARRY AS A CADET AT
THE AGE OF 12.
MR. GEORGE HAWKER—
HARRY’S FATHER.
[Facing p. 30.
At this time Sopwith was conducting a flying-school and had several pupils, between whom there was great competition for getting the use of the school machine. After Harry had done a little taxi-ing on the aerodrome he seemed never to be able to get hold of the machine. But at last it was arranged that he could have a fly at 7 o’clock one morning. In those days a flight of such a nature by a pupil would last for from three to ten minutes. Not so in Harry’s case, for Sigrist appeared on the scene at 8 o’clock, to find Harry still in the air after almost an hour! His progress under Mr. Sopwith and Mr. Hedley was exceedingly rapid, and he was acting in the capacity of an instructor before he had passed the tests for the Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificate. Among his pupils were Major H. M. Trenchard and Captain J. M. Salmond, both now officers of high distinction in the Royal Air Force.
Harry’s hopes and prospects were now as bright as they could possibly be. As soon as he had taken his “ticket” (i.e., R.Ae.C. Aviator’s Certificate), he was placed in charge of the hangars at Brooklands, where his real career began. Some of the gay times they had in those early flying days are worthy of record.
The firm, which later developed into the Sopwith Aviation Company, employing about 3,000 men, but consisted then of Mr. Sopwith, Mr. Sigrist, and about a dozen men, launched out with the purchase of a “racing” car when they had made a few pounds. This was an old Panhard of 16 h.p., fitted with a Victoria body and always accompanied by sundry disturbing noises. This genuine piece of antique was later fitted with a two-seater body, not to satisfy the wishes of its many drivers for a sporting effect, but because it provided at the back an enclosed space for carrying various impedimenta. On Saturdays and other festive nights it was customary for this useful part of the body to be discarded, and the turn-out would proceed, covered with mechanics, mud, and a very little glory, to the Kingston “Empire.”
This weekly trip from Weybridge to Kingston was never accomplished without incident in the form of some hitch or adventure. For instance, the tail-light, which no one had time or energy to adjust during the week, was wont to fail, and the policeman’s whistle was not infrequently heard. Whistle! “What’s that, Fred?” Harry would say to Sigrist. “Tail-light out, or did we run over that old girl?” “No, it’s only the light.” And so they proceeded, leaving the back to take care of itself. The eight or nine mechanics, carried on these journeys, were generally needed. Tyres were always going off; lamps always going out; and various bits and pieces of the car going astray on the road. All had, therefore, to work their passage.
Harry never tired of telling of the fun of those days, and although he was the keenest of workers, he was always ready for some fun, not a little being provided by the antics of a pet bear kept in the sheds at Brooklands and brought from America by Sopwith.