Fresh from his triumph, Harry was out carrying passengers as usual on Sunday, June 1st. Once, while he was carrying two passengers, Gordon Bell was also out flying solo on an identically similar Sopwith Tractor, thereby enabling comparisons to be made. The general view was that the machine appeared to climb as well with the passengers as without them. On descending, Harry announced his intention of making attempts on the altitude records for one, two, and three passengers.
In a wind blowing at about 30 miles per hour, Harry was flying the two Sopwith Tractor biplanes at Brooklands on Sunday, June 8th. Among the several passengers whom he carried, up to 2,000 feet or more, was his friend Commander Samson, R.N.
On the Monday, Harry flew to the Isle of Wight and back, with a Mr. Boger as passenger. The outward and return journeys occupied 55 minutes and 50 minutes respectively, and a height of 5,000 feet was maintained.
CHAPTER IV
AMPHIBIANS—AND MORE HEIGHT RECORDS
An Amphibian of 1913—Harry Gets up to 13,000 feet with a Passenger—Several Other Height Records—Three Climbs in One Day—The Progress of the Sopwith Enterprise—Several Types of Aeroplanes—And Seaplanes—Harry Wins the Mortimer Singer Prize—And Has Time to Spare—A Friendly Race with Hamel—A World’s Height Record—A Cross-Country Race—Preliminaries of the Round-Britain Seaplane Flight—Conditions Governing the Daily Mail £5,000 Prize.