Fledgling aviation industry's black day a century ago
Nov 14, 2020 20:19:33 GMT 12
ZacYates likes this
Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 14, 2020 20:19:33 GMT 12
Fledgling aviation industry's black day a century ago
Tina White
05:00, Nov 14 2020
Captain Richard Russell and Violet Hibbard, 15, on their arrival in Palmerston North from Dannevirke, July 31, 1920.
MEMORY LANE: Sunday November 14, 1920: It was a dark day, in more ways than one.
A cold south-westerly wind whipped around hundreds of mourners in what the Manawatū Standard called “one of the largest funerals remembered in New Plymouth”.
A Manawatū Times headline blared: “AVRO CRASHES: Startling and Terrible Tragedy.”
The event had started out as a pleasant jaunt in Captain Richard Russell’s Avro plane for his two passengers: New Plymouth’s mayor, James Clarke, 41, and Kathleen Warnock, a 26-year-old chemist, at 4pm on Sunday November 11, 1920.
Russell's crashed plane, November 11, 1920. He died along with passengers, New Plymouth mayor James Clarke and Kathleen Warnock.
But it turned to disaster above the New Plymouth golf course when, as a “lady eyewitness” later told the inquest, it seemed to her that the engine either cut out or failed, “sending the plane tumbling as if it was out of control”.
Horrified, the woman had watched as the plane crashed to the ground. All three occupants were killed.
In 1920, aeroplanes and the idea of passenger flight were still new and exciting.
A few months earlier, on July 31, 1920, publicity around dashing Captain Russell and his barnstorming Avro hit the newspapers when he made an inaugural flight from Dannevirke to Palmerston North.
Russell, 23, was an experienced pilot who had been awarded a DFC and a Croix de Guerre in World War I.
His sole passenger on the Dannevirke-to-Palmerston North trip was teenager Violet Hibbard, whose father was interested in civilian flight and who gave his permission for her to fly along with Russell.
It was an exciting adventure for Violet, 15, who made up several small bunches of fresh flowers, including violets, to throw out of the plane as it flew on its way, flashing silver in the sunlight.
The Woodville Examiner would later report that: “As far as we know only one bunch of the half-dozen was picked up and that was in Palmerston North.” That posy had fallen at the feet of cordial manufacturer George Dixon, who pressed it and kept it for many years. But there was one other.
In early August a Mr CA Sutton found another posy, withered away where it had fallen into his garden. But he kept the souvenir blue ribbon attached to it, inscribed: “With the compliments of Violet Hibbard, Dannevirke 31/7/1920”.
“Needless to say,” the Examiner concluded, “Mr Sutton will treasure his first letter by aerial mail.”
In Palmerston North, Violet, the captain and his plane, landing in Gillespies Line, were a sensation.
It was the first time an aeroplane had been seen in the borough and there was no shortage of passengers wanting to take a ride aloft.
The Auckland-to-Wellington overland jaunt had been organised by Walsh Bros, of the Kohimarama Flying School, to popularise flying and study possible air routes for commercial purposes.
“The pilot was rushed with prospective passengers and trips were booked up several days ahead,” gushed the Standard.
“All the afternoon, local citizens viewed the graceful circling of the huge birdlike object.”
The light plane takes off from Palmerston North on a joyride.
The first lady passenger to make the ascent in Palmerston North was Miss L Bowden. Speaking of her experiences during the trip, Bowden said that “all through, her sensations were those of absolute security and exhilarating motion”.
Reporters added this appeared to be the opinion of all who had made the trip.
“There is a remarkable absence of any feeling that one is so many hundred feet above terra firma. It rather seems that one is gliding along as on a boat, but so much swifter and steadier.
“In Captain Russell, people feel they have a pilot of experience and reliability, which no doubt counts considerably in the eagerness with which passages are booked.”
The grand tour to Auckland was planned to be resumed in about a week.
The captain and his plane arrived in New Plymouth on Monday November 8 and immediately continued the daily round of short passenger trips.
Before the fatal flight on November 11, Captain Russell had been giving an exhibition of fancy flying, but after taking on passengers Warnock and mayor Clarke, “away went the aeroplane...flying perfectly. The machine made a circuit of the course, flying over the Boys’ High School and then turning homewards...then the crash came.
“Hundreds of people were watching. They describe how the aeroplane suddenly toppled and fell straight down. People sped to the scene, hoping to help, but knowing too well what that sudden drop meant.”
The plane fell into a paddock near the racecourse. When a doctor arrived, all three occupants were dead.
The event cast a gloom over the town. Cinemas closed. A boxing match was cancelled.
Warnock was buried privately the day before the huge public funeral.
Clarke was given a civic burial service and Russell was honoured by family, airmen, military personnel, flying school representatives, civic dignitaries, and friends.
After the crash inquiry at New Plymouth, Mr Walsh of Walsh Bros had told a reporter: “Captain Russell’s hand was still grasping the master-control lever when he fell to earth, showing he had retained his presence of mind to the last, and cut off the control, so preventing the machine from becoming ignited.”
Violet Hibbard maintained her interest in aviation throughout her life. In 1970, during Palmerston North’s centennial celebrations, she took part in a re-enactment of her flight in a Tiger Moth piloted by John Mackie, of Dannevirke.
www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/300157220/fledgling-aviation-industrys-black-day-a-century-ago
Tina White
05:00, Nov 14 2020
Captain Richard Russell and Violet Hibbard, 15, on their arrival in Palmerston North from Dannevirke, July 31, 1920.
MEMORY LANE: Sunday November 14, 1920: It was a dark day, in more ways than one.
A cold south-westerly wind whipped around hundreds of mourners in what the Manawatū Standard called “one of the largest funerals remembered in New Plymouth”.
A Manawatū Times headline blared: “AVRO CRASHES: Startling and Terrible Tragedy.”
The event had started out as a pleasant jaunt in Captain Richard Russell’s Avro plane for his two passengers: New Plymouth’s mayor, James Clarke, 41, and Kathleen Warnock, a 26-year-old chemist, at 4pm on Sunday November 11, 1920.
Russell's crashed plane, November 11, 1920. He died along with passengers, New Plymouth mayor James Clarke and Kathleen Warnock.
But it turned to disaster above the New Plymouth golf course when, as a “lady eyewitness” later told the inquest, it seemed to her that the engine either cut out or failed, “sending the plane tumbling as if it was out of control”.
Horrified, the woman had watched as the plane crashed to the ground. All three occupants were killed.
In 1920, aeroplanes and the idea of passenger flight were still new and exciting.
A few months earlier, on July 31, 1920, publicity around dashing Captain Russell and his barnstorming Avro hit the newspapers when he made an inaugural flight from Dannevirke to Palmerston North.
Russell, 23, was an experienced pilot who had been awarded a DFC and a Croix de Guerre in World War I.
His sole passenger on the Dannevirke-to-Palmerston North trip was teenager Violet Hibbard, whose father was interested in civilian flight and who gave his permission for her to fly along with Russell.
It was an exciting adventure for Violet, 15, who made up several small bunches of fresh flowers, including violets, to throw out of the plane as it flew on its way, flashing silver in the sunlight.
The Woodville Examiner would later report that: “As far as we know only one bunch of the half-dozen was picked up and that was in Palmerston North.” That posy had fallen at the feet of cordial manufacturer George Dixon, who pressed it and kept it for many years. But there was one other.
In early August a Mr CA Sutton found another posy, withered away where it had fallen into his garden. But he kept the souvenir blue ribbon attached to it, inscribed: “With the compliments of Violet Hibbard, Dannevirke 31/7/1920”.
“Needless to say,” the Examiner concluded, “Mr Sutton will treasure his first letter by aerial mail.”
In Palmerston North, Violet, the captain and his plane, landing in Gillespies Line, were a sensation.
It was the first time an aeroplane had been seen in the borough and there was no shortage of passengers wanting to take a ride aloft.
The Auckland-to-Wellington overland jaunt had been organised by Walsh Bros, of the Kohimarama Flying School, to popularise flying and study possible air routes for commercial purposes.
“The pilot was rushed with prospective passengers and trips were booked up several days ahead,” gushed the Standard.
“All the afternoon, local citizens viewed the graceful circling of the huge birdlike object.”
The light plane takes off from Palmerston North on a joyride.
The first lady passenger to make the ascent in Palmerston North was Miss L Bowden. Speaking of her experiences during the trip, Bowden said that “all through, her sensations were those of absolute security and exhilarating motion”.
Reporters added this appeared to be the opinion of all who had made the trip.
“There is a remarkable absence of any feeling that one is so many hundred feet above terra firma. It rather seems that one is gliding along as on a boat, but so much swifter and steadier.
“In Captain Russell, people feel they have a pilot of experience and reliability, which no doubt counts considerably in the eagerness with which passages are booked.”
The grand tour to Auckland was planned to be resumed in about a week.
The captain and his plane arrived in New Plymouth on Monday November 8 and immediately continued the daily round of short passenger trips.
Before the fatal flight on November 11, Captain Russell had been giving an exhibition of fancy flying, but after taking on passengers Warnock and mayor Clarke, “away went the aeroplane...flying perfectly. The machine made a circuit of the course, flying over the Boys’ High School and then turning homewards...then the crash came.
“Hundreds of people were watching. They describe how the aeroplane suddenly toppled and fell straight down. People sped to the scene, hoping to help, but knowing too well what that sudden drop meant.”
The plane fell into a paddock near the racecourse. When a doctor arrived, all three occupants were dead.
The event cast a gloom over the town. Cinemas closed. A boxing match was cancelled.
Warnock was buried privately the day before the huge public funeral.
Clarke was given a civic burial service and Russell was honoured by family, airmen, military personnel, flying school representatives, civic dignitaries, and friends.
After the crash inquiry at New Plymouth, Mr Walsh of Walsh Bros had told a reporter: “Captain Russell’s hand was still grasping the master-control lever when he fell to earth, showing he had retained his presence of mind to the last, and cut off the control, so preventing the machine from becoming ignited.”
Violet Hibbard maintained her interest in aviation throughout her life. In 1970, during Palmerston North’s centennial celebrations, she took part in a re-enactment of her flight in a Tiger Moth piloted by John Mackie, of Dannevirke.
www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/300157220/fledgling-aviation-industrys-black-day-a-century-ago
