Wivenhoe
Note: This map only shows the position of Wivenhoe within the UK.
WIVENHOE: Early experimental test flying site
Location: On the river Crouch presumably in the esturary SE of Wivenhoe?
NOTES: It appears that Mr Jack Humphreys tested his ‘Waterplane’ here in April 1909 at least. It does appear it was a dismal failure as an aircraft, failing completely to get anywhere near the sort of speed required to become airborne. I have nevertheless included this ‘site’ in this guide to ‘Flying Sites’ simply to illustrate that in those very early days almost no designer/builder of so called aeroplanes could guarantee it would actually fly.
But that’s not the end to this story. Mr Humphreys did not give up. He constructed a single seat tractor monoplane at WIVENHOE but this time a land based machine. This was intended to take place in the DailyMail prize flight of £1000 for the first British circular flight of one mile.
It crashed before it could take place and, rebuilt, was later taken to BERECHURCH ROAD in Colchester where, watched by a contingent from the nearby Army garrison it pretty much flailed about and self-destructed. A lot must have been learnt though because when rebuilt again in late 1910, and in 1911 test flown by Mr C. Gordon Bell at BROOKLANDS, it is said it flew so well it could take-off at half throttle with three people on board!
It is also said that due to this eventual success the Germans offered him unlimited financial assistance to help assist them develop aeroplanes. Being a patriotic person he declined the offer and soon returned to taking up his principle profession as a dental surgeon.
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