“The day we flew the weather was apparently of the westerly type with a depression in mid-Atlantic a little to the southward of our course. This depression should have proceeded to the E.N.E., over towards Ireland, but apparently it spread to the northward, and we landed in the middle of it.”
The first half of the journey, therefore, seemed to involve the greater element of risk, and it was a debatable point whether the great total flying load during this stage would be an advantage or otherwise. With a ton of petrol on board, the machine would be less likely to be severely tossed about than without it, and if it did not yield to the wind gusts it would have to be strong enough to resist the buffeting of the wind, which it was quite capable of doing. On the other hand, it would not have such pronounced climbing powers as it would in the later stages, when a great proportion of fuel would have been consumed. Grieve[2] was of opinion that, if they safely traversed mid-ocean, information from west-bound ships in the vicinity would be of great guidance during the remaining half of the voyage. He also believed that the machine, the qualities of which they had tested thoroughly for nine hours, could easily maintain full speed for eighteen hours, which should enable them to reach Ireland; and they hoped to be able to make their landing at Brooklands, another five hundred miles from there.
[2] Commander Kenneth MacKenzie-Grieve is the youngest son of Captain MacKenzie-Grieve, R.N., and a younger brother of Captain Alan MacKenzie-Grieve, R.N. He entered the Navy at the age of fourteen and a half and spent many years on foreign stations, Australia, China, and the Mediterranean. During the Great War he served in an armed trawler on the East Coast, and was later acting Commander of H.M.S. Campania, a seaplane ship, for navigating duties. In 1913 he received the vellum of the Royal Humane Society for saving life.
In order to locate their position and lay a course which would take them to the Irish coast, just north of Valentia, Commander Grieve intended to take observations every half hour. It was Harry’s intention to fly on to Brooklands without landing in Ireland if daylight would allow. He also intended to release the undercarriage soon after the start in order to conserve his petrol as much as possible. In view of the fact that the machine would have to be landed without an undercarriage it was highly important that this act should be accomplished in daylight. A squadron of R.A.F. aeroplanes was in readiness at Fermoy co. Cork to proceed to the coast to escort Harry over the last few miles of his journey. Four magnetos were installed on the Atlantic on April 14th, in place of the two ordinarily carried, the risk of engine failure due to ignition troubles being thereby halved.
Heavy rain fell during the night of April 14th and the morning of the 15th, but by 11 a.m. the weather had somewhat improved. In view of the keen competition of the Martinsyde, which was by then ready for trial, Harry hoped to make a start from a less sodden stretch of ground which he had discovered at Mount Pearl. Raynham’s main object was to make a start at the same time as the Sopwith. Later in the day a fall of snow prevented any flying for either the Sopwith or the Martinsyde.
The new starting-ground which Harry had found was a gravel hillside to which he could draw his machine by means of horses. He expected to be able to take off down the slope. Harry and Raynham had now become so equally prepared to start that they agreed to spin a coin as to who should carry the mail bag.
On Wednesday, the 16th, snow fell heavily all over Newfoundland, making flying altogether impossible. Nevertheless, the rival camps kept a wary eye on each other, Harry being particularly on the alert to prevent Raynham stealing a march on him by an unexpected start, but really there was nothing for both parties to do other than watch and wait for the passing of the bad weather. The Martinsyde crew claimed that they could afford to give Hawker three hours’ start, and catch him up after that.
Later in the day report showed that it was very problematical as to whether anybody would make a start during the week, and the weather charts indicated unfavourable conditions for several days to come. Raynham had made a trial flight on the previous day and was entirely satisfied. The moon was on the wane, and as this was a most important factor in influencing a decision to start by either party, hopes of an early start were at most slight.
On the afternoon of Thursday, April 17th, Raynham and Morgan, his navigator, made another trial on the Martinsyde. Raynham cabled to London two bets of £50 each at prevailing odds on Harry and himself.
On the morning of Friday, April 18th, the weather prospects were so good that both Harry and Raynham decided to start at noon, but before then a storm came on, accompanied by weather reports which indicated no prospects of an early start being at all possible. It was on this day that Major Wood and Captain Wyllie left England for Ireland, in the Short biplane on which they were to attempt the flight from east to west. But their effort was terminated in its preliminary stage by an enforced descent in the Irish Sea.