“Mr. H. G. Hawker has been keeping the officials of the Club fairly busy of late. On Sunday last, with the Sopwith biplane, he made an attempt on the British Height Record with two passengers. The record of 8,400 feet stands to the credit of Major E. L. Gerrard, R.M.L.I. Mr. Hawker, however, managed to top the 8,000 feet but did not surpass the existing record. The following day, Monday, with another Sopwith biplane, he set out for the record with one passenger. The present official record is 10,560 feet, standing to the credit of Lieut. G. de Havilland. Mr. Hawker, according to the sealed barograph, attained a height of about 12,000 feet. After about half an hour’s rest he decided to make another attempt on the two-passenger record, and on this occasion his barograph recorded about 10,000 ft.
The barographs are now being tested, and the figures will be duly submitted to the Committee of the Club for official recognition.
It is interesting to note that these three flights by Mr. Hawker were all made within 24 hours.”
These altitude flights certainly bore great testimony to Harry’s characteristic untiring energy. On the 16th, although it was a sweltering day, Harry, at 7,000 feet, was shivering, and at 12,000 feet he could scarcely move his limbs, so intense was the cold. With one passenger he reached 13,400 feet, rather more than the figure stated in the above notice, and with two passengers 10,800 feet, also exceeding the figure stated in the official notice. It is a point of interest that his record flight with one passenger beat his own solo record of 11,450 feet, which he had made on May 31st.
When Harry made his attempt on June 15th, it was thought he had broken Major Gerrard’s record for two passengers; and reports to that effect purported to show that a height of 8,580 feet had been attained, approximately 180 feet in excess of Major Gerrard’s performance. Harry’s passengers were Messrs. Dukinfield Jones and Simms, a young pilot who served in the Sopwith Works. The sky was absolutely cloudless and throughout the flight the machine was fully in view of the spectators, who marvelled at its beauty as it turned and returned with the sun glistening on its light wings. Engine trouble was responsible for the termination of the attempt, and, on landing, Harry was received with warm applause. He announced his intention of making an early attempt on the one-passenger height record (which he successfully accomplished on the following day, as recorded above).
A detailed examination of the various official notices and Press reports relating to the Mortimer Singer Competition points to considerable doubt having existed among those not actually on the spot as to the exact type of Sopwith machine employed. While it is true that in one case the inadvertence in announcing that the engine was a Gnome instead of a Green was officially acknowledged, in other cases such expressions as “Sopwith Tractor biplane” were misleading, in that they gave no indication as to the machine being a flying-boat, and not fitted with a tractor air-screw at that. While these points were of no material consequence, they do show the probability of a wide confusion having existed owing to the great variety of successful Sopwith machines; and, although it was before the war, the industry was reaching a state when the various machines could no longer be counted on the finger-tips. Seeing that Mr. Sopwith himself attributed the success of his enterprise in no small measure to Harry’s genius, references to the progress of the Sopwith concern, such as the foregoing, are not out of place here.
Of the divers machines under construction at the Sopwith Works during June may be mentioned a “gun bus” for naval use. This machine, propelled by two 120 h.p. Austro-Daimler engines, had a span of 80 feet. Then there were the 100 h.p. Green-engined twin-float hydro-aeroplane, designed for the Daily Mail Circuit of Great Britain; and the air-boat which won the Mortimer Singer Competition, as described above, also engined with the 100 h.p. Green. When this machine passed its first tests on the sea a wind of 40 miles per hour was blowing, and the sea was correspondingly rough. The machine differed from the original “Bat Boat” exhibited at the Aero Show in the previous February, in that a pair of inclined struts were introduced between the engine and the fore part of the hull. So effective was the hull in hydroplaning over the water, that the front elevator, a feature of the original “Bat Boat,” was abandoned.
Then, during the month, a new Sopwith 100 h.p. Anzani-engined tractor hydro-aeroplane was tested by Harry and handed over to the Admiralty. The tests were passed very satisfactorily, the machine leaving rough water almost as quickly as the corresponding land machine left the ground. A speed of 68 miles per hour was attained, and the machine had particularly good climbing and alighting qualities. The machine was badly damaged immediately after being taken over by the Admiralty, a broken propeller and punctured float being the result of a collision with a mooring-buoy. The use of ailerons was now standard practice throughout the whole range of Sopwith machines, warping wings having been abandoned.
With such a variety of types, one can easily understand confusion arising from the circulation of brief reports stating that “Hawker, on a Sopwith biplane, etc....” As for Harry, he was obtaining an unique experience in the handling and maintenance of several types of aeroplanes and engines.
In June, the Sopwith Aviation Company contemplated acquiring yet another skating-rink—at Surbiton this time—in order to cope with increasing orders. Over one hundred hands were now employed over a floor space of 60,000 square feet. Foreign governments were sending over deputations, to whom Harry had the responsibility of demonstrating the airworthiness and efficiency of the Sopwith machines. The Sopwith Tractor biplanes were particularly in demand. Among the orders executed by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the summer of 1913 may be mentioned one of nine 80 h.p. Gnome-engined tractor biplanes for the Army and two similar machines for the Navy, all of which were tested by Harry at Brooklands.