Harry first arrived at Brooklands at a time when things were literally moving rather slowly and the hub of British enterprise in aviation was showing a pronounced tendency to deviate to Hendon, whither many of the bright spirits that were formerly the life of Brooklands had already departed. Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith (now C.B.E.), who gave Harry his start in aviation, had recently returned from a successful American tour, during which he had participated in several motor-boat races and incidentally had commissioned the well-known American boat-builder, Burgess, to construct, under licence from the Wright Brothers, an aeroplane, known as a Burgess-Wright biplane then, and as a Sopwith-Wright after reconstruction by its owner in England.
As it was on this machine Harry made his reputation as a pilot of the first rank, a few references to its design and construction are not out of place. The original machine built by Burgess to Sopwith’s instructions, contrary to the customary Wright practice, was fitted with controls of the Farman type and a Gnome rotary engine. Having brought the machine to England, Sopwith replaced the Gnome engine by a British-built A.B.C. of 40 h.p., and proceeded to manufacture in his sheds at Brooklands duplicates of all the component parts of the aeroplane. Thus the machine, when ultimately reconstructed, became all-British in conformity with the requirements of the competition for the British Empire Michelin Cup No. 1. The machine had twin propellers, driven through the medium of chains connected with the single engine, and on the right-hand side of the latter was arranged the pilot’s seat. The machine was therefore of a distinctly novel type, at any rate so far as concerned this country, where few Wright machines had been seen. One innovation added to the design by Mr. Sopwith (to protect the pilot from the wind) was a nacelle, resembling in appearance a side-car body, and it is probable that without this feature Harry would not have been able to put up as many long flights as he did. Passengers in this machine enjoyed a particularly novel sensation in sitting beside the engine instead of in front of or behind it, and in landing they received the impression that the chassis had collapsed, so low was the build of the machine as compared with other contemporaneous types.
Four days after he had his first lesson in the art of flying, Harry flew alone in the Sopwith-Farman machine. His remarkable genius was thus revealed at the very beginning of his career in aviation; and by Sopwith, his tutor, he was afforded full scope for the development of his abilities. Within a month he qualified for his R.Ae.C. Aviator’s Certificate, the number of which was 297; and so rapid was his progress that when he successfully essayed his flight for the British duration record he had only put up a total flying time of about twenty hours.
After obtaining his certificate, Harry lost no time in pursuing the purely sporting side of flying, and on Saturday, October 5th, 1912, he participated in a Quick-Starting Competition, at Brooklands, on the Sopwith-Farman biplane. There were eight other competitors. Harry tied for second place with the late Harold Barnwell, who was piloting a Vickers-Farman biplane, their times being 6 seconds. An interesting circumstance of this contest was that on running off—or, rather, flying off—the dead heat, Harry and Barnwell both completed the evolution in faster time than E. C. Pashley, the accredited winner of the race, whose time was 5⅖th seconds. Harry’s time for this second performance was 5 seconds and Barnwell’s 4⅘th seconds. Sopwith, who competed on two machines, a Sopwith-Farman and a Sopwith-Tractor, for which his times were 7 seconds and 7⅖th seconds respectively, had the doubtful pleasure of being beaten by his pupil.
Harry essayed his first flight on the Burgess-Wright, on which he was subsequently to achieve the British Duration Record, on October 15th, 1912. Being already accustomed to the Farman type controls, he found no difficulty in handling the machine, and after completing a few circuits and practising landings he felt thoroughly at home on it. The following morning at 6.51 a.m. he set out on a test of 3 hours 31 minutes in competition for the British Empire Michelin Cup No. 1 and the £500 prize. The Cup had previously been won by Moore-Brabazon in 1909 and twice by Cody, in 1910 and 1911. In the 1912 competition a continuous flight of not less than five hours’ duration had to be made, the award going to the competitor remaining the longest time in the air in a single flight without touching the ground. Although unsuccessful as a qualifying flight in the competition, Harry’s first attempt, lasting as it did for three-and-a-half hours, on a machine of a novel type which he had flown only for the first time on the previous day, was a most creditable achievement, especially, too, for a pilot who had won his brevet only a month previously. Such a flight, in such a remote period in the annals of aviation as 1912, would have been considered no mean performance for the most experienced of pilots. The flight, which was carried out at Brooklands at an average height of 500 feet, was terminated owing to the fracture of a valve-spring. Harry made two other unsuccessful attempts to win the Cup, the first lasting 2 hours 43 minutes, and terminating abruptly owing to a sudden gale, and the second of 3 hours 28 minutes, ending owing to rain.
As the Michelin Competition definitely closed on October 31st, there was no time to lose, and on Thursday, the 24th, Harry put up a flight of 8 hours 23 minutes, which proved to be the British Duration Record held by him for several years. On the same day a flight of 7½ hours was made by his friend Raynham, who held the British Duration Record for a brief spell of 1 hour 35 minutes, having started and finished before Harry. Lord Charles Beresford was among those who witnessed these record flights. I cannot do better than reproduce the following account communicated to the Aero by its special correspondent in November, 1913.
“We were astir early in the Sopwith camp on Thursday, October 24th. Not that this was the first early-morning attempt on the Michelin prize. The same thing had been going on for a week past, and no fewer than three times in this week had the new Sopwith twin-screw A.B.C.-engined biplane sallied forth. Hawker, the pilot, had been chosen to fly the Sopwith ‘bus,’ and his determination, skill, and enthusiasm through this and the previous attempts justified the faith put in him for such a task. Hawker is a young Australian, and, like his fellow countrymen Busteed, Pickles, and Harrison, he shows very great promise as a flier. Joining the Sopwith school as a mechanic, he was allowed to learn on the orthodox school type Farman, and he early displayed his aptitude for this work by going up to 1,000 feet and remaining there for fifty minutes on the fourth day of his training.
“Of his three previous attempts on the Michelin Duration Competition little need be said; the first one was terminated after 3 hours 31 minutes by a valve-spring breaking. On the second attempt the wind, after 2 hours 43 minutes proved too much for further flight, and the third attempt ended after 3 hours 28 minutes in a rainstorm, which soaked the magneto through, and temporarily ended its career.
“With serious designs on ‘durating,’ the Sopwith camp was awake and bustling, and excitement ran high when it was seen that Raynham was to make a simultaneous attempt on the military Avro biplane (enclosed body type), fitted with a 60 h.p. Green engine. Hawker got away just before 7 a.m., but was brought down again after a flight lasting no more than twenty minutes by the magneto cutting out occasionally. Apparently it had not recovered from the effects of its previous soaking. This contingency had been anticipated, however, and a brand-new British-made Bosch had been ordered previously, which, however, had only arrived late the night before. The old ‘mag.’ was hurriedly removed and the new one fitted, but even minor details of this kind take time, and in this case the time was all too precious. In timing the magneto it was found to run the wrong way round, and it had to be dismantled and a new commutator fitted.