Olympia
OLYMPIA: Not a flying site as such - or was it?
Being rather mischeivous I found this picture of the Wellman balloon (dated 1909) being inflated within the main hall at OLYMPIA in John Fabb's book Flying and Ballooning - from old photographs. It appears that the balloon is in the later stages of inflation and that the 'crew basket' is positioned in front. Clearly this picture was taken in the early 'build-up' phase for the exhibition and I imagine the idea was to display the balloon fully inflated with the basket in place below? If this was the case then technically the balloon would have been airborne. However, see below.
BUT, WHAT IS IT?
Further investigation reveals that John Fabb was wrong in making the claim, in his caption: "The Wellman balloon on display at the Aero-Exhibition, 1909. It was proposed to reach the North Pole." By 1909 the American Walter Wellman had long since abandoned the balloon concept and was convinced that an airship was the answer to his quest and the 'America' airship was commissioned. But we must ask, and why, could this airship have been exhibited at OLYMPIA?
It would seem a most perverse decision for Wellman to exhibit his airship in London, in a country where almost across the board the main people in commerce and government saw no future in aviation!
It appears that despite all his efforts, his attempts to fly to the North Pole, in his airship 'America' failed.
This photo of the Central Aircraft Company Centaur IVB, on display here, was published in Flight magazine on the 15th July 1920.
GETTING A DEFINITION?
When setting about producing this 'Guide' some twenty years ago (written in 2017) I found it increasingly difficult to define exactly what constituted a 'flying site'. In the end the answer seemed obvious - it was anywhere in the UK where some sort of 'machine', device, contraption etc actually became airborne. It must of course be remembered that in the early years of aviation, in the UK at least, an aeroplane was invariably referred to as a 'machine'.
Also, perhaps being very pedantic, can any exhibition of static aircraft either indoor or outdoor, be regarded as a flying site? In the greater scheme of things I now believe it can; for the very simple reason that aircraft viewed on the ground, on the apron of an airport for example, have everything in common with aircraft exhibited in a hall - or a hangar for that matter.
THE OLYMPIA AERO SHOW 1909
The exhibition, (the OLYMPIA AERO SHOW), in March 1909 is of considerable historical importance in the annals of British aviation history. The pilots and/or designers in Britain were lagging woefully behind the French, (and the American Wright brothers of course), who had already developed reasonably controllable fixed-wing aircraft types. By this time the French were arguably certainly superior, world leaders in fact, and the Wright brothers contribution was quickly becoming pretty much obsolete. This was borne out during the Reims aviation meeting in the same year - 1909.
WE STARTED TO CATCH UP
Taking part for example in the 1911 Olympia Aero Show was the Handley Page HP.4, a single seat ‘tractor’ aeroplane with a 40hp ‘Green’ engine offered at £450. The purchaser was offered free flying tuition. Later it was re-engined with a 60hp Isaacson intending to take part in the Daily Mail ‘Circuit of Britain’ with Mr R C Fenwick as pilot. It seems he crashed the aeroplane at FAIRLOP in Essex on the Saturday before the contest.
But, despite many similar setbacks, the British were catching up, and very quickly too. Indeed, the 'displays of flying' supported usually by the Daily Mail newspaper catapulted the main proficient pilots such as the Frenchman Henri Salmet, and the British Gustav Hamel had achieved 'super-star' status in the UK.
AN AVIATION EXHIBITION IN 1912
This picture was scanned from The History of British Aviation 1908 to 1914 by R Dallas Brett. The Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland, where he worked in the factory at FARNBOROUGH.
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