Doncaster racecourse
DONCASTER RACECOURSE: Temporary aerodrome
Note: Picture by the author, taken through perspex.
Location: Doncaster Racecourse
Period of operation: 15th to 25th October 1909, also September 1910
Note: The second picture from a postcard was kindly sent by Mike Charlton who has an amazing collection. See, www.aviationpostcard.co.uk
I wonder if anybody could identify this aircraft? If so, this advice will be much appreciated.
I suspect the picture of the aeroplane was superimposed later, as nobody seems to be looking up at it. Plus, generally speaking at least, pilots wouldn't fly over the crowds simply because, especially if this low, an engine failure could easily result in catastrophic death and injuries.
Also, note the term 'sheds'; - the term 'hangar' was adopted from the French during WW1.
NOTES: DONCASTER quite rightly claims to be the first British major flying meeting venue. BLACKPOOL was also holding another major flying meeting but this took place from the 18th to the 23rd October, starting three days later. The main problem was that the BLACKPOOL meeting was officially sanctioned by the Aero Club, (later to become the Royal Aero Club), acting under the auspices of the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) whereas the Aero Club decided they wouldn’t sanction the DONCASTER meeting. The second problem being that the organisers of the DONCASTER meeting had made contracts with several pilots before the Aero Club imposed their ruling.
Surely, and without any doubt, the success of the utterly brilliant Rheims Aviation Week (France) in August had fired the imagination of promoters in England to stage a similar event. The prestige would have been enormous so they set about contracting pilots to perform. A group of businessmen in Carlisle also hoped to make a bid, but lost out to Blackpool and Doncaster.
Think about it. All this must have been taking place at break-neck speed in those days, or even today for that matter. Organising such a huge event before the winter weather set in. The problem was that the DONCASTER meeting was organised by a committee which had nothing to do with the Aero Club. Indeed, the participating pilots at DONCASTER received telegrams from the Aero Club telling them, the night before the meeting when they were all set up and ready to go, that if they took part in the meeting they would be banned by the FAI, (or assigned bodies such as the Aero Club), from any future meeting held under its auspices.
NIGH ON GROUNDED!
In effect, the pilots were nigh on grounded - or so the Aero Club and the FAI hoped. With commercial contracts already signed up the pilots were between a rock and a hard place and severely compromised. It seems the decision the pilots' made was unanimous; they were there and therefore would fly - and hang the consequences. The pity is that the two meetings split the small number of pilots available and, although successful in their own right with crowds of at least 50,000 attending, neither would match the impact of the Rheims meeting.
The Aero Club did apply sanctions, for example suspending Cody for three months, but after six weeks re-instated him. It was a typically bungled British affair sad to say. The press were highly critical of the Aero Club, as was the Comte de la Vaulx, a vice-President of the French Aero Club. It has to be appreciated today that the ‘authority’ then vested in organisations such as the foundling FAI and the Aero Club in the UK was far from established.
Weather conditions in September the following year were pretty bad it seems and “no outstanding flights were achieved”. And, all the pilots were French.
Note: The FAI did go onto greater things and today decribes itself as, "The World Air Sports Federation".
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
Note: The two newspaper adverts appeared in the Sheffield Independent on the 15th October 1909. The article was published in the London Daily News on the 24th September 1909.
Note: The article from Flight magazine was published on the 9th October 1909 whereas the picture appeared on the 23rd October. The newspaper article was published in the Globe on the 21st October.
A MOST AUSPICIOUS VISIT - A 2nd MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
This relates to the visit by Sir Alan Cobham during his 1929 Municipal Aerodrome Campaign on the 25th and 26th July. Starting in May and ending in October the original plan was to visit 107 venues, but in the end due to a couple of crashes and other problems, he managed to visit 97 venues. Still a magnificent achievement.
The aircraft he mostly used was the de Havilland DH61 'Giant Moth', G-AAEV, a ten-seater 'airliner' named "Youth of Britain".
Note: The second item, a newspaper picture, (along with the fifth item, another picture), were published in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer on the 26th July 1929. The third item was published in the Sheffield Independent, also on the 26th July.
Note: The seventh item, another newspaper article, was published in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph on the 27th July 1929.
THE FLYING CIRCUS ERA
Doncaster Racecourse was a venue in early May 1931 for the Air Tours Ltd tour of the UK. I have yet to discover much information about this operation and will gladly welcome advice, having only seventeen venues identified so far. It appears the Tour started in April and ended in late September. It appears they attended venues from Penzance in Cornwall up to Inverness in Scotland.
DONCASTER RACECOURSE: Helicopter landing area
Location: 1.5nm E of Doncaster town centre
Landing area: 1998, in clear area in centre of course
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