OUR MONOPLANE FLIES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1961, 19 January 1914, Page 5

OUR MONOPLANE FLIES

-..■OEtIT. HAMMOND AS PILOT, &PEED Of 80 MILES AN HOUR, (By Td<itrrapli.-<Prc»6 AetoclMionJ AucWand, January 18, -Tlio initial flight in $evr Zealand of the iJltriot nionopl.-wc Bjitairnia, }«-... sejited to the Dufcnco Forces, wasniado' "■■ at Epsom yesterday afteuioon by hknlenant .1. J. Hammond, of the l!«;y;il , Inlying Cor])s. Jfer a (j-uartcrof an hour lie liud the inftcliitic m tiia air, thw" evigli.ly testing it ,ib a piicliniiniiry to t'iw public exhibition on Arinivprsa-i-y 13a.v, January 29. i.lo took the machine out Jgnin this morning, uiid for a.bout an 'hour was flying above the city and harbour. Yiysiorfay's flight was rondo in a strong wind, kit without mishap. Tnn eoßiniffliecinwit of the first flight wan wihiessed by a small, though, deeply -interested, mmul Nino ineu held the limduiie while Liw/l. Hammond clinslicd nonchalantly into his seat, lie started Hie engine, adjustod his goggles, and then gai 0 a signal. Two "machine was released, and,, after a. short run over the show ground, it rose sharply into the air, the booming of the tngiiie- rapidly dimin-ishinn; .is jt race-d away due west. Lioiit. tlanwiond ti-rcled round seven or ci"ht tinieji at a Itciglit of a [ few 'hundred icet, rising and falHirg irt a wanner that displayed absolute <?oniliMiud over tbe machine, and ho finishod the- llight with an easy landing, l'or a tinro he travailed ut a speed oi at least ' 80 miles an li.oarTlie flight ov<t the town this morn- :. ing was entirely unexpected. People " suddenly liesrd 'a rhyvlimie ' tbrabbing Moise, and there, poised gracefully' between cnrtli nnd tho blue sky, was tiia JJritiuwia in rapid flight, Auckland'. : I.tal-M of auranliifics foj- tihe rest of the flay. When tile nirsliip left tlte liangnr the weather conditions were good, and Liei.rt. Hammond, who had )io -course ■liia'ppcd out, tiioriglit th.nt be ivoiild go ■.•■; some way over tho city. Ho circled ivbove tho exhi'itilioin, aucl followed down the j line of the street to Oift wa-terfroirt. Over tlio sparkling Waitenvjita. thij : uionoplanc soared, and, seeking out ffoe warships Psyche and Phflomei, dipped in her -cowse sis a mark of respect to ■tire White Ensign. B-aiing.also 'ealut-" V •ed J'I,M.S. I'yranKis, the inonoplan.o whfselC'd citywii.rds aKflin, and flew- b,V J waj of. Jtomit' Etfcn to . the- show '.« grounds, where be roade * beautifnl de- '■ scent. The flight -occupied nearly an.,"!hour, aud iii «rdcr t« let tlio people sec tho machine Lieut. HammOiid kept a,s low as possible. ' " The engine worked perfectly the whole time, Imt the planes were not aftswering properly to the coiitrok. Tlio rudder and elevator pianos were, however, actina: properly, am] Lieut. H.Minion4 Was ttlSo to do some pretty evolutions, Once he "banked" tlio niacliiire at .in aimlo of 90 degrees—lliat is.to en.v, lie had uitt wings at' right angles to, instead .»f parallel with, tho earth. In the language of airmen, this is called "standing he) , on tier wing-tip."