THE SOPWITH TABLOID, THE PROTOTYPE OF THE FIGHTING SCOUTS, DESIGNED BY HARRY, IN ITS MODIFIED FORM FOR LOOPING-THE-LOOP, AFTER HIS RETURN FROM AUSTRALIA.
[Facing p. 56.
On May 10th, 1913, the Saturday before Whitsun, with Harry in charge, the new 80 h.p. Gnome Sopwith Tractor biplane fully justified the big things that were expected of it, at Hendon, whither its reputation had travelled in advance. Harry flew over from Brooklands to take part in an Altitude Contest in competition with Verrier on a Maurice Farman, Robert Slack on a 50 h.p. Gnome Blériot, Brock on a 35 h.p. Deperdussin, and Hamel on an 80 h.p. Blériot. The machines left the ground at short intervals and were all soon out of sight, hidden by clouds. In making a single circuit of the aerodrome, the Sopwith machine climbed 2,000 feet. Hamel was first down after about 20 minutes, quickly followed at short intervals by Slack, Verrier, and Brock, in the order named. Harry, however, was nowhere in sight, and did not appear again until about forty minutes after he had started. As there was a time limit in the contest, the judges, having concluded that Harry had made a forced landing elsewhere, announced the following result:
| 1. Verrier | 4,450 ft. | |
| 2. Brock | 4,300 ft. | |
| 3. Slack | 4,000 ft. |
Hamel retired, disqualified by a faulty barograph, although he had ascended to somewhere above 7,000 feet. In the meantime Harry had reached an altitude of 7,450 feet in 15 minutes—a truly remarkable performance. At that height, having lost his bearings, he decided to land, which he did at Ponder’s End, a few miles east of Hendon, still keeping his engine running while he enquired of a passer-by his whereabouts. Having returned to the aerodrome and satisfied the judges that he had landed within the prescribed time limit, he was finally adjudicated winner of the contest. The particular machine was one of a series ordered by the Admiralty.
Immediately after this fine performance Harry competed in the Speed Handicap for the Shell prize of 100 guineas. The race was flown in heats, Harry being scratch man in the second heat and giving 55 seconds to Slack and 1 minute 57 seconds to Lewis Turner, who was flying a Caudron biplane. Turner won the heat by 17⅖th seconds, and Harry came in last, three minutes behind Slack. His failure may be attributed to bad handicapping, which could hardly be avoided in the case of almost the first public appearance of a new machine with a genuine reputation preceded most probably by an exaggerated one. After witnessing the final, won by Turner, Harry left for Brooklands, where, on Whit-Sunday, he carried several passengers and also tested the engine of the Sopwith hydro-aeroplane.
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.
Harry made several circuits of the aerodrome at 500 feet, while testing the new Sopwith hydro-aeroplane, on the Saturday after Whitsun, May 17th, 1913, at Brooklands, preparatory to sea tests to be made at Cowes. On the Sunday, Lieut. Spencer Gray tested the Sopwith Tractor biplane, and all present were astonished by its remarkable climbing properties. In a wind of 35 m.p.h., Harry made several solo and passenger flights.
Sopwith and Harry were at Cowes during the following week, ending May 24th, testing the new hydro-aeroplane, which exceeded all expectations. Two more machines were approaching completion at the works, ready to be despatched to Brooklands for test.
It was proposed that on Saturday afternoon, May 31st, Hamel, Gordon Bell, Harry, and other well-known pilots should attempt a British Altitude Record, and also possibly a World’s Record. Hamel would fly an 80 h.p. Borel monoplane, Gordon Bell the 120 h.p. Martin-Handasyde monoplane, and Harry the 80 h.p. Gnome Sopwith Tractor biplane. The Brooklands Automobile Racing Club offered a prize of £50 to anyone breaking the existing record of 10,650 feet, which stood to the credit of G. de Havilland.