A Bomb-dropping and Alighting Competition, in which competitors had to drop their bombs on or near a given target and land within a minimum radius of a given mark was held on the Saturday following. The first and second places went to Merriam and Knight respectively, Sopwith, Bendall, and Harry being the “also rans.” Sopwith, having succeeded in making a direct hit with his bomb, misjudged his landing, a circumstance which disqualified him.
Harry shared in a big success in a Relay or Despatch-carrying Race on Sunday, November 17th. In this contest the competitors worked in pairs. One pilot would start off with a despatch, and, after flying one-and-a-half laps, land and hand the commission over to his partner, who in turn would fly over the same course, alight, and hand the despatch to the judge, the winning pair being those who made fastest time. In the particular contest, which was flown in perfect flying weather, it was originally intended that each pair should comprise a biplane and a monoplane, and Hamel flew over from Hendon on a Blériot for the special purpose of competing, but the scarcity of monoplanes owing to the War Office ban on machines of that type resulted in only biplanes taking part. The first prize went to Harry and Spencer, the latter flying a machine of his own construction. Their total time for the course was 9½ minutes. Barnwell and Merriam, of the Vickers and Bristol Schools respectively, on Farman and Bristol machines, took 10 minutes 10 seconds, and Bendall and Knight, on a similar pair of machines, took 10 minutes 12 seconds.
On Sunday afternoon, November 24th, just before dusk, a Speed Handicap over two laps of the Brooklands course was decided. The handicapping was, on the whole, good, Alcock,[1] Sopwith, and Knight, the first three home, all finishing in that order within a space of four seconds. Harry finished, but was unplaced. It is interesting to note that this was the first race in which Alcock participated. He had recently obtained his brevet at the Ducrocq school. Sopwith made fastest time.
[1] The late Sir John Alcock, K.B.E.
Harry had his machine out on the following Sunday to take part in another Bomb-dropping and Alighting Competition, but as the contest was on the point of starting rain came on and put an end to flying for the remainder of the day. The contest was postponed until the next Sunday, but Harry was unavoidably absent.
Busteed, Harrison, and Harry, who had all migrated from Australia together in April, 1911, had all now achieved some distinction in flying, and Australian prowess in the art was well in the ascendant. Busteed and Harrison were doing big things for the Empire as instructors of flying, and Harry, by his record flights, was doing much to promote British aerial prestige.
The business of the Sopwith Company having expanded extensively in the meantime, Mr. Sopwith had decided to lease a skating-rink in Canbury Park Road, Kingston-on-Thames, so that more room than could be provided in the sheds at Brooklands should be available for the construction of machines to meet increasing demands from the Admiralty, War Office, and foreign governments. The skating-rink was ideal, not only on account of the space available for erecting big machines, but also owing to the level floor, which was a great facility. Mr. Sigrist, who had been largely responsible for the design of the Sopwith Tractor biplane and had accompanied Mr. Sopwith on his American tour, was the works manager there.
And so I leave 1912, conscious of the fact that, in the few months during which he had been flying, Harry had contributed in some considerable measure to the fostering of that record-breaking spirit so necessary for the advancement of the new art and science.