CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| FOREWORD | [vii] |
| PREFACE | [ix] |
| PREFATORY NOTE | [xiii] |
| CHAPTER I EARLY STRUGGLES | |
| Harry’s Parents—His Sisters and Brothers—Schooldays—Four Schools in Six Years—The Attraction of a Cadet Corps—Motor Work at Twelve Years of Age—The Expert of Fifteen—Managing a Fleet of Cars—First Desire to Fly—The Kindness of Mr. and Mrs. McPhee—Harry Meets Busteed—And Comes to England with Him—Kauper—Seeing London—Quest for Employment—A Job at Sevenpence per Hour—Another at Ninepence-Halfpenny—Thoughts of Returning to Australia—Forty Pounds in the Bank—Kauper Strikes Oil—And Helps Harry—Sigrist—How Harry was Happy on Two Pounds per Week—His First Flight—Reminiscences of Brooklands Days | [25] |
| CHAPTER II THE BRITISH DURATION RECORD | |
| Harry’s Aversion to Publicity—Circumstances of His First Brooklands Associations—The Sopwith-Burgess-Wright Biplane—Harry’s Effort in a Quick-Starting Competition—Beating His Employer—Early Attempts for Michelin Laurels—A Real Success—Tuning-up for the Duration Record—Raynham Makes a Race—And Secures an Advantage—Raynham Lands after 7 hours 31½ minutes—And Holds the Record for an Hour or Two—Opportunity Knocks at Harry’s Door—And is Well Received—Harry Lands after 8 hours 23 minutes—To Him the Spoils—His Own Account of the Experience—A Reminiscence of Cody—The Significance of Harry’s Achievement—Other Flights at Brooklands—The Growth of a Pioneer Firm | [35] |
| CHAPTER III ABOUT ALTITUDE AND OTHER RECORDS | |
| A Colleague’s Impression of Harry in 1913—Harry in the Passenger’s Seat—“Aerial Leap-Frog”—Competition Flights at Brooklands—Testing the First “Bat Boat”—End of the First “Bat Boat”—Harry as a Salesman-Demonstrator—Testing the Second “Bat Boat”—70 Miles per Hour in 1913—Asçent to 7,450 feet in 15 minutes—A Prize Flight—How Harry Deserted from a Race which He Won—How a Biplane Beat a Monoplane—More Seaplane Testing—The British Altitude Record—11,450 Feet—“Bravo, Hawker!”—A Journalist’s Tribute—Flying in a High Wind—To the Isle of Wight and Back | [53] |
| 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 | [63] |
| CHAPTER V FIRST ATTEMPT TO FLY ROUND BRITAIN | |
| The Task of the Flight Round Britain—And the Machine for the Job—Public Interest in the Pilot—“Good Luck!”—The Night Before the Start—A Mayor’s Early Call—And the Sequel—The Scene at the Start—To Ramsgate at Sixty Miles per Hour—An Aerial Escort—The Ramsgate Cup—Fog in the Thames Mouth—To Yarmouth in Next to No Time—Harry Collapses—Pickles Relieves Him—And Meets with Misfortune—Starting All Over Again | [77] |
| CHAPTER VI SECOND ATTEMPT TO FLY ROUND BRITAIN | |
| Harry Recovers—And Takes Charge Again—An Early Start—Almost Unseen by the Starter—Thick Fog—Behind Time at Ramsgate—An Explosion—A Favourable Breeze—But Bumpy Air off Cromer—Scarborough—A Forced Landing—Five Hundred Miles in a Day—Resting at Beadnell Overnight—The Second Day—A Spiral Glide at Aberdeen—A Terrible Journey to Oban—The Third Day—A Water-logged Float—Another Forced Landing—Ireland—“A Piece of Ghastly Bad Luck”—Kauper Goes to Hospital | [93] |
| CHAPTER VII A BIG CHEQUE, AN AERIAL DERBY, AND OTHER EVENTS | |
| Echoes of the Seaplane Flight—Mr. Winston Churchill’s Views—Back to Work—The £1,000 Cheque—And a Gold Medal from Margate—The Carping Critic—And the Reply he Received—An Expedition to Eastchurch—Lost in the Air—Racing a Powerful Monoplane—An Exciting Aerial Derby—Hamel’s Bad Luck—Harry Finishes Third—And in the Sealed Handicap is Fourth—A Bad Crash at Hendon—Other Races—Michelin Efforts Again—Harry’s Bad Luck—He Puts Up Some Wonderful Flights—A Headache in the Air | [103] |
| CHAPTER VIII THE PROTOTYPE OF THE FIGHTING SCOUTS | |
| Harry’s Stroke of Genius—Ninety Miles per Hour with an 80 h.p. Gnome—When German Interests were at Brooklands—The Real Value of “Stunting”—A Biplane that Exceeded Expectations—When Hendon was Surprised—Construction of the Tabloid—Contemporary Sopwith Products—In Harry’s Absence—Pixton Pilots a Tabloid to Victory—A £26,000 Ante-Bellum Aviation Company—Mr. Rutherford—Another Type of Genius—One of Harry’s Records Broken—An Australian Poem—Death of Hamel | [119] |
| CHAPTER IX AERIAL PROPAGANDA IN AUSTRALIA | |
| Back to Australia—Harry Expresses Some Views—Australian Air Policy—He Speaks of Stabilising Devices—A Reminiscence of the Round-Britain Seaplane Flight—A Civic Welcome—Harry’s Father Speaks—Assembling the Tabloid—First Flight in Australia—Preparations for Flight—Flying from a Street—An Object Lesson at Government House—Harry Dispels a Fallacy—And Speaks about Whirling Propellers—A Flying Call on the Governor-General—Interrupts a Game of Tennis—What the Governor-General Thought of Harry—Old Melbourne Friends Fly—The Australian Press—Enterprising Lady Passengers—Passengers pay £3 per Minute—Curious Attitude of an Association Official—Organisation of a Big Public Flying Exhibition—Harry’s Views on Flying—A Crowd of 25,000—Is Difficult to Handle—And Affects Harry’s Programme—An Accident—Without Serious Consequences—The Minister of Defence Ascends 3,500 Feet | [133] |
| CHAPTER X AERONAUTICAL ADVANCEMENT IN AUSTRALIA | |
| Harry’s Proposals for Aerial Defence—Seeing Under Water from the Air—A Crowd of 20,000—A Governor-General Ascends 4,000 Feet—And a Governor’s Daughter Goes Up Too—Stunts—Rumours of Looping—Another Accident | [155] |
| CHAPTER XI A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS | |
| Harry’s First Loops—Flying to Manchester—Harry is Taken Ill in the Air—He Returns and Lands Safely—And Collapses—An Extraordinary Accident—A Very Narrow Escape | [163] |
| CHAPTER XII SOME WAR-TIME EXPERIENCES | |
| Testing Production Machines—The Distinguished General and the Camel—The Boredom of Old-Fashioned Transport—And How it was Remedied on One Occasion—Testing a Doubtful Machine—Harry Gives Expert Criticism—And Predicts the Performance of a Four-Engined Aeroplane | [171] |
| CHAPTER XIII A MOTORING HONEYMOON | |
| Harry to the Rescue—A Game of Cards—Keeping an Appointment—Twenty-four Hours too Early!—A Provisional Engagement—Marriage—Gas-bag Motoring—A Strained Back—Faith in Christian Science | [181] |
| CHAPTER XIV BUILDING A 225 H.P. MOTOR-CAR | |
| Harry Buys Two Aero Engines—And a Mercèdes Chassis—Structural and Starting Problems—Myself as Rivet-driver—We Start the Engine—And I Stop It—On the Road—Shows Clean Heels to Big American Car—And Tows a Rolls—Harry in His Home Workshop | [193] |
| CHAPTER XV READY FOR THE ATLANTIC FLIGHT | |
| Conditions Governing the Flight—Arrival in Newfoundland—Mount Pearl Farm—Snowed Up—The Test Flight—Local Interest Intense—Wireless Difficulties—Details of the Atlantic—An Aerial Lifeboat—Clothing of the Trans-Atlantic Airmen—Estimates and Anticipations—Over a Ton of Fuel—A Letter for the King—An Inspection by the Governor—Storms—Prospects of a Race—Revising Plans—Grieve—Navigation Problems and Methods—Weather Forecasts—A New Starting-ground—Nervous Tension—The Aviators are Amused by Their Correspondence—A Would-be Aerial Bandsman—False Weather Reports—Services of the Air Ministry—Weather-bound at St. Johns—Harry’s Confidence—Four Magnetos and a New Propeller—Address from the Mayor of St. Johns | [203] |
| CHAPTER XVI 1,000 MILES OVER THE ATLANTIC | |
| Signalling Arrangements—Temperament—A Press Tribute—The American Attempt—Just Before the Start—Parting Messages—The Start—“Poor Old Tinsydes!”—Dropping the Undercarriage—Out of Sight of Land in Ten Minutes—Over the Fog—Four Hours Above a Sea of Clouds—Grieve’s Method of Navigation—Weather Not as Forecasted—Taking the Drift through a Hole in the Clouds—400 Miles Out—Cloud Banks and a Gale—After 5½ Hours—Over-heating Radiator—What was the Cause?—The Only Possible Remedy—Is Effective at First—At 10,000 Feet—Giants of Nature 15,000 feet High—A Side-wind that Became a Gale—Flying “Crabwise”—Losing Height—Clouds, Darkness, and a Doubtful Time—Nearly Down to the Sea—Dawn—Sea-sick—Looking for a Ship—The Mary—The Rescue—Up to the Knees in the Sea—Captain Duhn—Sighting St. Kilda and the Butt of Lewis—A Famous Signal—“Is it Hawker?”—“Yes”—The Navy’s Guests—The Civic Welcome at Thurso | [225] |
| CHAPTER XVII MY OWN REMINISCENCES OF THE ATLANTIC FLIGHT | |
| I Wait for News—The Americans Start—I Hear Harry has Started—And I Put out the Flags—No News Next Morning—Fate is Unkind and Brings a False Report—Which, Contradicted, Delivers a Paralysing Blow—No Further News—“All Hope Abandoned”—Good News—Peace of Mind Once More—Everybody Happy—The King Telegraphs Congratulations—I Go to Meet Harry at Grantham—Harry’s Triumphal Progress to Grantham—Together Once More—Harry Rides a Horse through London—“Escape” from the R.AeC.—Celebrations at Ham—Fireworks at Hook | [253] |
| CHAPTER XVIII AFTER THE ATLANTIC ATTEMPT | |
| Harry and Grieve Receive a Royal Command—The King and Queen and Prince Albert Hear their Story—The Air Force Cross—Comedy of a Silk Hat—A Cheque for £5,000—Is Nearly Lost—The Daily Mail Luncheon—General Seely Delivers Official Congratulations—Harry Replies—And Grieve—Tributes to Lord Northcliffe—Another Luncheon, also at the Savoy, on the Following Day—Royal Aero Club as Host—An Appropriate Menu—The Derelict Atlantic is Recovered—Harry is Pleased | [271] |
| CHAPTER XIX MOTOR RACING | |
| Harry Turns to Motor-racing—Successful Début at Brooklands—Why I Stayed at Home—The 250 h.p. Sunbeam Touring Car Takes Second Place—When the 450 h.p. Racer Comes on the Scene—Harry Drives the Largest Car in the World—A Terrible Crash—Without Serious Consequences—Back to the Air—The R.A.F. Tournament—Reunion of Pioneer Aviators—Eleventh-Hour Entry for the Aerial Derby—Second Place, but Disqualified—A Very Busy Month—Aeroplane Trials at Martlesham—British International Motor-boat Trophy at Cowes—More Motor-racing at Brooklands—His Aeroplane Enables Harry to be (nearly) in Three Places at Once—Harry “Brings Home” a £3,000 Prize for the Sopwith Company at Martlesham—I Decide that Motor-racing is Too Risky—And Fate Deprives Harry of a Race—Motor-boat Racing—Racing an A.C. Light Car—And a D.F.P.—The Gordon-Bennett Air Race of 1920—Bad Luck—The 450 h. p. Sunbeam Again | [291] |
| CHAPTER XX MOTOR ENGINEERING AND RACING | |
| Formation of the Hawker Engineering Company—The Racing A.C.—Amusing Experiences—Remarkable Performances Due to Efficient Streamlining—Several Records Broken—An Accident—The Hawker Two-stroke Motor-cycle | [309] |
| CHAPTER XXI THE PASSING OF A BRAVE AVIATOR | [317] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Harry George Hawker, A.F.C. | [Frontispiece] |
| Facing Page | |
| Mrs. George Hawker, Harry’s Mother.—Harry as a Cadet at the age of 12.—Mr. George Hawker, Harry’s Father | [30] |
| 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 | [56] |
| The Sopwith Dolphin, put through its Initial Tests by Harry.—The Sopwith Camel, a world-famous Fighting Biplane. Hundreds of Machines of this type were tested by Harry during the War | [94] |
| The Sopwith Rolls-Royce-engined Biplane, “Atlantic,” in which Harry and Grieve attempted the Atlantic Crossing. The top of the Fuselage was made in the form of an Inverted Boat, which they detached in Mid-Atlantic. The Undercarriage was dropped soon after the Start, in order to reduce Air Resistance | [108] |
| Testing the Lifeboat. On the back of the original Photograph Harry wrote: “Note the broken ice between the boat and shore.”—This picture shows some of the difficulties in getting the Aeroplane to the Starting-Ground in Newfoundland. The Driver apparently took things lying down | [122] |
| The Detachable Boat carried on the Atlantic Flight.—The Sopwith Trans-Atlantic Biplane in the Hangar near St. John’s, Newfoundland | [142] |
| The Derelict Aeroplane, in which Harry and Grieve had attempted the Crossing, was recovered from the Atlantic by the U.S. Steamer Lake Charlotteville.—Harry at the Wheel of the Racing A.C., the Body of which was designed by him and proved a remarkable advance in efficiency | [156] |
| Our House at Hook, soon after News of Harry’s Rescue from the Atlantic.—Home Again! Harry and Grieve at Grantham Station, after the Atlantic Flight. Mr. Sopwith is standing in the doorway | [174] |
| The Scene outside King’s Cross Station, London, when Harry returned from the Atlantic. The Australian Soldiers decided that Harry must have something more triumphant than a Civic Reception | [198] |
| Harry and Grieve leaving Buckingham Palace after having been decorated by the King. Although a Civilian, Harry received the first Air Force Cross—a Service Decoration | [244] |
| A Souvenir of the first Transatlantic Air Mail | [264] |
| Trans-Atlantic Aviators’ Reunion Dinner. The late Sir John Alcock is on the extreme left; Mr. F. P. Raynham on the right (nearest the camera); Sir Arthur Whitten Brown in uniform (opposite the camera); and on his left Lieut.-Comdr. K. Mackenzie-Grieve, A.F.C.—Harry is third from the left of the picture | [282] |
| Harry on Board a Yacht during one of the Periods which he devoted to Motor-Boat Racing.—Pamela sets the Pace on the Lawn at Hook | [300] |
| The 12-cylinder Racing Sunbeam after Harry’s Smash at Brooklands, when several yards of corrugated iron fencing were torn down.—Mr. T. O. M. Sopwith, C.B.E., and Harry, with the Hawker Two-Stroke Motor-Cycle—a Post-War Enterprise of the Hawker Engineering Company | [312] |
| Floral Tributes being taken to Harry’s Grave, at Hook, Surrey, on the 225 h.p. Sunbeam, by my Brother, Captain L. Peaty | [318] |