INVENTOR KILLED BY HIS AEROPLANE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 117, 3 October 1912, Page 8

INVENTOR KILLED BY HIS AEROPLANE.

TERRIBLE TRAGEDY AT ARMY AVIATION MEETING. 300-FOOT FALL. London, August 14. A terrible tragedy occurred at the Army aviation meeting at Larkhill Camp, Salisbury Plain, last evening, when Mr. R. 0. Fenwick, inventor and pilot of the Mersey monoplane, fell with his machine from a height of 300 ft, and was killed instantly. At 6.30 p.m. a number of Army officers were leaving for Farnborough, and the attention of the spectators was centred on a military aeroplane which was standing, with propeller whirring, ready for the pilot's signal. Few people noticed a little monoplane start for a flight across the Plain from the far end of the hangars. It was the Mersey monoplane, which was entered for the military trials, and was piloted by Mr. Fenwick. Those who did see the machine noticed that it was not flying steadily, but the weather was perfect, and it was thought that the monoplane would soon right itself. SUDDEN SWERVE.

When at a height of about three hundred feet it passed a clump of tree* about two miles from the aviation camp, and began to swerve in an alarming fashion.

Suddenly the monoplane turned over on its side and disappeared behind the trees.

A rush was made for every available motor car in,the neighborhood, and one 01 the Army aviators flew to the scene of the accident.

Immediately the rescue party saw the wrecked machine they knew that the pilot could not have escaped. All that remained of the monoplane lay in a hollow, buckled and smashed beyond recognition. The inventor lay dead among the debris.

A ring was cleared by mounted police and soldiers, and the aviator's body was placed on an ambulance motor car and conveyed to a mortuary. Except for the wings, which were spread flat on the ground, nearly every part of the machine 'was smashed to pieces. One part lay twenty-five feet away from the rest, and some of the spars were embedded in the ground to a depth of over a foot. An examination showed that the warping apparatus was intact, and it is believed that the machine was overturned by a gust of wind.

AS THOUGH PUT. A witness of the accident stated that as he was watching the flight he noticed the machine suddenly shudder as thou«h something had hit it from below. "it then turned over on its side," he added, "and dropped like a stone for 100 ft. The pilot must have made almost superhuman efforts to right the craft, for it appeared to regain its flying level. Then it suddenly dived to earth at a terrible rate." ,

Mr. Fenwick, who was a native of Freshfield,- Lancashire, was oue of the most enthusiastic inventors in the country. He had studied the problem oi flight for years, and the outcome of his investigations was the Mersey monoplane. He was exceedingly proud of liii' invention, and was frequently heard to remark that the whole machine, excepting, of course, the engine, was made by iiim. willi the assistance of the village carpenter. In appearance the monoplane was rather frail, and. with one exception, was the smallest machine entered for the military test?. Mr. Fenwick had made three flights previously on the Plain, and j had flown with steadiness, I