“Wet? No!” said Harry afterwards. “That wasn’t a wet cloud I went through, it was a dry one. White clouds are always dry. You go through black ones, and you’ll know the difference. A white cloud is just like a dry white fog and the sun lights this up beautifully. It is not a very clear day down here, but it is really a very nice day up there. I was thinking while I was up that there seemed to be just about one hundred miles of snow mountains, and the sun was lighting up every one of them.”
When Miss Dixon came down from the clouds, she, too, remarked on their beauty as seen from above. Miss Dixon incidentally paid £20 for the trip, which worked out at more than £3 per minute. Although it was a costly business, many other ladies wished the flight could have been theirs. Mrs. Clive Daniel who had also made arrangements for an excursion on Saturday afternoon, was naturally very disappointed at not being able to make the flight owing to the unavoidable change in Harry’s plans. Mrs Daniel went so far as to offer Harry an extra £10 if he made the flight, but Harry would not incur the risk. He offered instead to make another flight with Mrs. Daniel from Elsternwick after landing Miss Dixon there. When it was suggested by someone the ladies should toss a coin in order to determine who should have the privilege of the first trip, Miss Dixon declined to abandon her bargain of having purchased the right to be the first lady passenger, and accordingly she made the flight, which I will now describe.
For about five minutes the biplane circled the course and then, pointing its nose homeward, flew directly for Elsternwick. The journey took about a minute, and Harry brought the machine down on the golf-links. Apparently it was Harry’s unlucky day, for a further accident befell the machine as it came to earth.
When the news spread abroad that Harry had decided to land at Elsternwick, another great crowd assembled there. As soon as he saw the people, Harry realised that he was confronted with a very difficult landing problem. In order not to injure anybody, Harry purposely made a steep descent. Unfortunately the biplane swung sharply round when it touched the ground, with the result that the propeller splintered, the landing chassis was badly wrenched from its mountings, and sundry wires were strained. Luckily, no one received any injury.
Miss Dixon thoroughly enjoyed her experience, and her enthusiasm was shown by the fact that she at once arranged to make another flight with Harry at Sydney.
As Harry had been careful to bring one or two spare propellers with him to Australia, the damaged Tabloid was soon restored to flying trim.
On the following Wednesday, four days after the foregoing sensational incidents, Harry had the honour of taking the Minister of Defence, Senator Millen, for a flight. Senator Millen thus had the distinction of being the first member of the Federal Cabinet to make an aeroplane ascent in Australia. He was greatly impressed by the bird’s-eye view of Caulfield, Malvern, Armadale, and St. Kilda, which he had during a flight lasting about a quarter of an hour at a height of 3,500 feet and a speed of 90 miles per hour. The flight was kept as secret as possible. Nevertheless a crowd assembled in the hope of seeing something, and, as usual, they pushed forward and occupied the fairway. Mounted on a box, Harry’s father announced that there would be no flight until all had withdrawn to the wall. This had the desired effect, and Harry took his seat, ready to make a preliminary test flight. After a run of about 40 yards, the machine rose gracefully, and, steering a south-easterly course, Harry climbed to about 1,000 feet. After circling round the park, he switched off his engine and glided to earth, landing on precisely the same spot from which he had taken off.
Surrounded by a circle of friends, including the Minister of Customs, Senator Millen watched this preliminary display with obvious interest, and when it was over he made his way forward as it were to congratulate Harry. But a burly policeman intercepted him and requested him to retire. At the time very few of those present knew what the Minister really intended to do. Senator Millen, turning to the constable, spoke a few words to the latter, who at once broke into a smile and allowed him to proceed. During the ensuing minutes the policeman bore the air of one who had been entrusted with an important secret.
But the Senator’s real mission was soon disclosed. Putting on a pair of motor-goggles, he handed his hat to one of the mechanics, and, after donning a cap, stepped up, and down into the passenger’s cockpit. “Good boy, Millen!” shouted somebody, and the crowd applauded. This time the machine took the air after a run of no more than thirty yards. Heading into the wind, they soared steadily above the electric power station until the only background was the cloudless sky. After attaining a height of 3,000 feet, Harry, heading eastward, took the Minister over the neighbouring suburbs. The purr of the engine was distinctly heard by the people as the machine passed above their heads. A white cloud from the exhaust-pipe indicated the path of the machine, like the foam in the wake of a liner. To the onlookers it seemed as if the machine proceeded out to sea during part of the flight, but Harry explained afterwards that he did not actually cross the water, but merely followed the coast. As the aeroplane turned down-wind, Lieut. Petre and Lieut. Harrison, of the Defence Department, estimated its speed at over 100 miles per hour. Time and again it appeared to pitch and roll under the influence of the strong breeze, but always under perfect control. After flying for about a quarter of an hour at considerable height, Harry shut off his engine and glided down, heading into the wind. After sinking and disappearing for a few seconds behind the Elsternwick Hotel, the machine climbed just high enough to clear the building by a few feet and swept between two tall pine-trees, close to the ground, skimming along for about 50 yards, a few inches above the turf, as if undecided whether or not to land. Then it touched gently and, after a single hop, came to a standstill. Senator Millen was received with loud cheering as he stepped from his seat.
After his flight with Harry, Senator Millen said: “I cannot say that there was any feature one could describe as thrilling; nothing can make one feel that one is heroic or any sort of a dare-devil: it seems so beautifully simple, so steady, and so safe.” After stating other opinions of his flight, he said: “My flight with Hawker was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had. Hawker is master of his machine and seems to manipulate it by a movement of his finger. While I watched him he never at any time made a movement with his arms. In any case there is very little room to move in the cockpit. I have done a great deal of fast motoring from time to time, but there is no comparison between that and soaring in the air.”