On this Day (WWI aviation news), Vol. 2

[PJ Fisher]

'Sea Hawks at Work'
Some thrilling anecdotes from RNAS pilots defending attacks from both air and sea.  No aircraft are identified, but the account of the submarine bombing could pertain to an incident from that summer when a Wight Converted Seaplane flying from Cherbourg sank the German U-boat UB-32 with a single 100 lb bomb.  Evidently this was the first submarine to be sunk in the English Channel by direct air action. 
(from the Abergavenny Chronicle, 12 October 1917):



Another rarity, the Converted Seaplane was J.S. White & Co.'s answer to the Short Bros.' popular Admiralty Type 184.  General proportions and performance were similar, though the Wight incorporated the same unusual double-cambered airfoil design as most of their other aircraft, (including my favorite the A.1 Improved Navyplane).  It received a lukewarm receptions amongst RNAS crews and only thirty-seven machines were completed out of an original order of fifty.  The plane was commemorated as the subject of a postal stamp in the 1990s (one's available on eBay for £2.17: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110759299707).  According the M. Goodall's the subject-matter expert, the original builder's scale model (probably the only build of this plane ever made) for this type still existed as of the 1970s.  Not sure what it's made of or scale it is, but the level of detail looks rad.

[PJ Fisher]

7:1 Kill Ratio
Tough times this month for the French and British over the Western Front.  According to this relay of a War Office report the Germans dominated the skies.  A peek over at the Aviation Safety Network database gives an good indication of who and what was falling to earth in the fall of 1916:  https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/dblist.php?Year=1916&sorteer=datekey&page=3.

Meanwhile, a US airman has a lucky escape in southern California.  The location isn't mentioned but it could well be the Signal Corps Aviation School; also then known as Rockwell Field, which was based near San Diego and also not too far from where the future famous 'Top Gun' training center was.  Here's a thorough history of this airfield: https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/v52-3/pdf/2006-3_air.pdf

(from the Montpelier Examiner, 13 October 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

Front Row Seat
Colorful yet naive, describes this report of an American journalist writing about his experience in the air at a time before the US had entered the war and really understood have much the combat playbook had changed.  Notably his pilot appears to be none other than Norman Spratt, the British test pilot who held both speed and altitude records in 1914.  He is also credited as having participated in one of the first 'dogfights' of the Great War, on 28 August 1914, when Spratt, flying an unarmed Sopwith Tabloid, forced down a German Albatros C.I.
(from the Evening Capital News, 14 October 1917):

[Dutch522]

Had to shake my head over the figures quoted for the vast aerial armada the US was going to send across the Atlantic; we never reached more than a fraction of it. But as a former woodworker what really caught my eye was the casual mention of the three million feet of black walnut & mahogany that were going to get sawn up into props; if you could get it now (which you can't, in those days when they said "mahogany" they meant Cuban mahogany, which is unobtainable now unless you want to chop up antique furniture) you'd be looking at a cost of somewhere well in excess of US$50M just for the raw material...

Dutch

[PJ Fisher]

No Prize for Second Place
The Daily Mail's 'Great Atlantic Air Race' was wholeheartedly resuscitated after the Armistice.  This challenge began in 1913, when the newspaper's proprietor, Lord Northcliffe, offered a £10,000 prize (roughly $1.15m today) for the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic by a heavier-than-air aircraft.  It would be awarded to "the aviator who shall first cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland in 72 continuous hours."   

The first plane to cross was a Curtiss NC-4, crewed between New York State to Lisbon, which headlined here in May 2022: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg250981#msg250981.  Though it made history, because that crossing took 19 days, no prize was awarded.  The winner would prove to be John Alcock & Arthur Brown in a converted Vickers 'Vimy' bomber on June 15.  Check out forum member lone modeler's post on on that plane: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=6274.msg114357#msg114357.

So what of the other contestants?  Notable entries included Sopwith's famous test pilot Harry Hawker who, with navigator Kenneth Mackenzie Grieve, made the first attempt nearly a month earlier... but ditched their single-engine Sopwith 'Atlantic' in the ocean after its Rolls Royce engine overheated 1130 miles from Ireland.  Next in line to fail were Majors F.P. Raynham and C.W.F. Morgan in their Martinsyde 'Raynor'.  Another 'also ran' was Sidney Pickles in a Fairey. 

And then there was Rear Admiral Sir Mark Edward Frederic Kerr and his crew in the world's largest operational airplane (another converted bomber)- the Handley Page V/1500.  Today's article notes the second reincarnation of this big bird after being twice robbed of its intended duties.  With a custom-built runway at Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, as their point of embarkation, Kerr had his V/1500 shipped from Britain by sea in over 100 crates.  Their plane was reassembled and flying by early June, Kerr's team seemed able to win the prize after Hawker's failure.  Alas, while awaiting parts to address cooling issues with their four Rolls Royces, Kerr's team learned of Alcock's & Brown's achievement.

What to do with a disused giant bomber when there's no prize for second place?  Kerr was "ordered to quit the transatlantic attempt, but to instead tour the aircraft in the United States. Kerr attempted to arrange his visit to New York with the arrival of the (British airship) R-34 on its east to west flight.... During the flight, Kerr exchanged wireless messages with the R-34.  The team left Harbour Grace for New York on 4 July 1919. On the way to New York, the engine started to overhead (sic). There was a loud crack, the engine stopped, and as piece of metal went through the fuselage., which forced them down. In Parrshoro, Nova Scotia, they landed heavily on a small racetrack and destroyed the fuselage and damaged the tail." (via planecrashgirl.ca).  They had no choice but to 'throw up the sponge'.  Repairs were made and by the time of this article's publication, they did succeed in delivering the first ever air-mail parcel from Nova Scotia to the United States.
(from the Evening World, 15 October 1919):






The final fate of this machine is unknown to me though a few relics are extant.  At a centennial commemoration in 2019, the navigator's seat was presented to the Ottawa House By the Sea museum in Parrsboro.  For further good reading, here are two websites:
     - https://conceptionbaymuseum.com/2020/07/03/the-handley-page-atlantic-at-sea-level/
     - https://planecrashgirl.ca/2019/10/31/kerr-in-harbour-grace/
     - https://www.aerosociety.com/news/the-great-transatlantic-race/

[PJ Fisher]

Had to shake my head over the figures quoted for the vast aerial armada the US was going to send across the Atlantic; we never reached more than a fraction of it. But as a former woodworker what really caught my eye was the casual mention of the three million feet of black walnut & mahogany that were going to get sawn up into props; if you could get it now (which you can't, in those days when they said "mahogany" they meant Cuban mahogany, which is unobtainable now unless you want to chop up antique furniture) you'd be looking at a cost of somewhere well in excess of US$50M just for the raw material...

Dutch

No joke!  I've done a bit of carpentry and to think of all those old-growth forests that were leveled to feed the war industry alone...

[PJ Fisher]

Sad Intelligence
There has been an fatal smashup involving four officers and two Bristol F.2b Fighters.  One pilot, Benjamin Stewart Buckingham Thomas, was previously shot down by anti-aircraft fire and survived.  He and his observer, 2nd Lieutenant C. E. Sparks, were killed whilst flying homebound from a dawn patrol on 4 October when they collided with 2nd Lieutenant D. R. Philips in the second 'Brisfit'.  All involved were buried side by side in Grevillers British Cemetery, which lies a few kilometers west of Bapaume.
(from the Carmarthen Weekly Reporter, 16 October 1918):



Thomas' medals were auctioned by Spink not too long ago.  Their cataloging tells a bit more of this aviator's story, including a couple of combat reports: https://www.spink.com/lot/22001000529.  Have a look at forum member tcraftpilot's late-war Bristol Fighter, from No 1 Squadron: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=6869.msg126032#msg126032

[PJ Fisher]

Pilots of the Purple Twilight
Another evocative early-war dogfight scene, with a little poetry thrown in.
(from The War Illustrated Album deLuxe, vol. 1, 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Mad Mercedes
Our story from two days ago noted how British pilot Benjamin Stewart Buckingham Thomas was shot down by an anti-aircraft gun but survived).  Assuming it was German and not friendly fire, here's a look at what might have been the culprit.  Looks like they are storing the explosive ammunition right under the pilot's seat.  Convenient.
(from the Souvenir Album of the Great European War, 1914):

[PJ Fisher]

Recompensa Valiosa
Pioneer aviator Lieutenant Garcia Santiago Campuzano first flew in 1911 and joined the French Foreign Legion in 1915.  At the time of this report he was piloting a Caudron G.6 with Escadrille C.74.
(from the Ogden Standard 19 October 1917):



Some interesting background on this lesser-known Great War aviator and Cuba' involvement in the conflict, which included training in the United States:

"Then, during the First World War, and as proposed by senator Colonel Coronado, a member of the Cuban Senate, a group of thirty three Cubans, under the command of Captain Francisco Terry Sanchez, departed to Galveston, Texas in the United States, on the school ship "Patria" of the Cuban Navy, to train as pilots at the University of Texas at Austin, and as mechanics at Kelly Field in San Antonio, in order to structure the Cuban Escadrille and to enter combat duty in Europe.

September 14, 1917 is created this escuadrilla to fight in France, with the name of "Le Escuadrille Cubaine", organized by Santiago Campuzano. Lieutenant Campuzano received the French Medal of Valor while organizing the 2nd Squadron, adding prestige to the Cuban Army. May 15, 1918 a new law authorizes the executive to form an aviation school and to form the Cuban air escuadrille. On May 18th of 1918 by Decree No. 1181, Cuban President General Mario Garcia Menocal ordained the organization of the Aviation Corp and the Aviation School. July 25 Menocal formalizes the "Escuadrille Cubaine" by decree. In August 1918, Captain Terry who saw combat duty with the Lafayette Escadrille was to command Squadron 1, formed by 10 pilots and 20 mechanics and Lieutenant Santiago Campuzano was to be in charge of Squadron 2. In September 6,1918, the 30 men of the Squadron N°1 arrive at the airport Kelly in San Antonio, United States to begin their training. There it is known like Squadron N°322. But the war finished before could be embarked. In April of 1919 the Escuadrilla Cuban returns home." (via urrib2000.narod.ru.  Read more here: http://www.urrib2000.narod.ru/Mil1-1-e.html)

Here's a look back at forum member xan's build of another Caudron from C.74: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=8102.0

[PJ Fisher]

P.S.
I coincidentally came across another, clearer image of that AEG from the other week:

[PJ Fisher]

Boelcke Wounded?
Continuing this week's antiaircraft sub-theme, here's a report claiming that the legendary German aerial tactician, Oswald Boelcke was injured by an exploding French artillery shell. 

Boelcke has headlined here a few times, most recently October 10, when he was reported as still touring the Eastern Front: (https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg259692;topicseen#msg259692).  In reality, he was already back in the sky over France continuing a string of combat victories since early September.   This article is fairly accurate in citing the world's leading ace as having totaled about thirty-two confirmed victories leading into the second week of October.  Can anyone confirm that Boelcke was actually wounded by ground fire?  Regardless, he has only eight days more to live as on October 28 he will be killed in a mid-air collision with his best friend, Erwin Böhme.  In the mean time, several more enemy planes will fall to his guns, bringing his final total to forty wins.
(from the Hawaiian Gazette, 20 October 1916):

[PJ Fisher]

'When Sausages Blazed in the Sky'
A veteran of the 1916 Mexican Punitive expedition, 'Balloon Boy' Sam Moore was floating alone in his observation ballon when eight enemy aircraft closed in.  His parachute provided his only chance to escape.  Moore bailed from his 'blazing sausage' and lived to fight another day... flying eleven combat missions in the Pacific Theater during WWI.
(from the the Chattanooga News, 21 October 1918):



Here's a full account of Moore's experience; published in the May 1963 issue of Air Force magazine:  https://www.airandspaceforces.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/1963/0563balloons.pdf.  And here's the announcement of the Siilver Star he received: https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/81178

The U.S. Mexican Expedition headlined here last April: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg253946#msg253946

[PJ Fisher]

M'urica!!
I suppose they've always been a proud bunch.  This article notes the most successful combat day to date for the relatively green U.S. Army Air Service.  Even though they were still almost entirely reliant of British and French aircraft, this modest milestone marks significant improvement of Signal Corps' inauspicious inaugural combat operations two years earlier in Mexico (see link in yesterday's post).
(from the Evening Leader, 22 October 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

'Outpost of the Skies'
Paired with this week's post on the American balloonist Sam Moore, here's a full-page story on 'gasbags' under French operation.
(from War Illustrated, October 1918):



A French Caquot-type 'Elephants of the Sky' headlined here in December 2022: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg250765#msg250765