TRANS-ATLANTIC AVIATORS’ REUNION DINNER. THE LATE SIR JOHN ALCOCK IS ON THE EXTREME LEFT; MR. F. P. RAYNHAM ON THE RIGHT (NEAREST THE CAMERA); SIR ARTHUR WHITTEN-BROWN IN UNIFORM (OPPOSITE THE CAMERA); AND ON HIS LEFT LIEUT.-COMDR. K. MACKENZIE-GRIEVE, A.F.C. HARRY IS THIRD FROM THE LEFT OF THE PICTURE.
[Facing p. 282.
Colonel F. K. Maclean, introduced as “the father of British aviation,” said he remembered how in navigation the compass had a habit of turning round and round somewhat faster than the machine. He had flown without a compass, but he thought that to get one’s position in mid-Atlantic, even with a compass, was the most extraordinary thing of which he had heard.
When the toast of Harry and Grieve was being drunk, an extra special cheer was given for me, and someone added, “And for the little Hawker!”—and so Pam was toasted too.
Harry was relieved of most of the onus of replying by Mr. Sopwith, who mentioned that he and Grieve had arranged to share the £10,000 prize if they won it in proportions of 70 and 30 per cent. Harry had, however, insisted that they should halve Lord Northcliffe’s prize of £5,000, because they had both suffered equal risks. Mr. Sopwith also paid a warm tribute to the generosity of Lord Northcliffe and to his staunch belief in aviation, and concluded by saying that Harry had told him that if he made another Atlantic flight he would have nobody else to navigate but Grieve.
Grieve said he was much amused to see himself referred to as an aviator in certain papers. “I’m not an aviator, and never will be. But it has been a great source of pride to me to be associated with the Royal Aero Club.”
On Friday, May 21st, the American steamer Lake Charlotteville, bound from Montreal for Danzig, with 3,500 tons of flour and 500 tons of coal, sighted the derelict Sopwith aeroplane at longitude 49° 40´ N., latitude 29° 7´ W. at 2 p.m., on her starboard beam. The machine was considerably more submerged than when it was abandoned by the aviators, and only the remains of the tail and the rear part of the fuselage remained above water, projecting vertically. The steamer arrived at Falmouth at 4 p.m. on the following Wednesday afternoon with the remains of the aeroplane lashed on deck in her forepart, looking at a distance like a broken perambulator. Although the engines did not appear to have suffered a great deal from the effects of the immersion, the aluminium was noticeably corroded with brine. The propeller was of course smashed and splintered, as also was the timber structure of the machine. There was a mass of twisted wires among the fractured wings and soaked canvas.
There was a heavy swell running when the captain of the Lake Charlotteville bore down on the derelict and, not knowing that the airmen had been rescued, searched for survivors. As a matter of fact, the machine was not so damaged when picked up as when it reached Falmouth. It was hoisted on board by winches, and later the sea swept the deck and caused further damage.