The L'Anse sentinel., 1922-08-18

eastern coast of Newfoundland. A
prize of $4,000 had been offered to
the aviator who made the first non.
stop flight across the Atlantic ocean,
and a dozen or so Britishers had gath.
cred there to make the attempt.
Among them was Captain Alcock
later Sir John Alcock, famous ace
during the war, who piloted the first
English plane that bombed Constants
nople. Captain Alcock, with a navi-
gator, Arthur w. Brown, also knighted
later, hoped off in June, 1919, and
astonshed the universe by flying from
Newfoundland to Clifden, Ireland, in
IL hours and l. minutes.
Ii was just six months later that
fate overlook this intrepid aviator.
While flying in France, merely taking
a seaplane to an exhibition at Rouen,
he miscalculated his distance from the
earth, in fog, and was instantly
killed when his plane struck the
ground
One of Captain Alcock's rivals In
the transatlantic flights was an air
man who was equally well known
among aviators. This was Harry G.
Hawker. Hawker was the first to hop
off at Newfoundland, starting on May
Is with Lieutenant Commander Mac
kenzie Grieve as navigator. In vain,
the next day, they waited for news of
him in England. Ha~ker and his COIN
rade and their plane had disappeared.
People said that they had been
drowned in the ocean. But those who
knew the aviator said: NO; Harry
Hawker has got more lives than cat.
If he hadn't, he would have been
killed long before shis. He's the
luckiest airman that ever lived"
Sure enough, six days later a Danish
steamer, the Mary, came rolling into
port with Hawker and Grieve on
board. She had picked them up $50
miles off the coast of Ireland, floating
along hanging TO their frail craft.
Hawker's luck still held.
A year later, July 81, Hawker went
aloft near the Hendon airdome, in Eng.
land, to test Il plane for the aerial
derby. He was flying probably 1000
feet up in the air when those who were
watching saw the plane suddenly ca
reen and come pfunging to the earth.
Hawker died in the arms of the doctor
who had been hastily summoned.
coroner's jury found the accident had
been due to sudden stroke Of paral'
ysis which the airman had suffered,
His physician testified that Hawkei
had long beei, a victim Of tuberculosis
of the spine, and had been warned
against flying.
Sir Ross Smiths Death.
During the year that Captain Alcock
and Hawker were busy with their eff
forts to fly across the Atlantic, another
British aviator sprang into promi-
nence by plotting a plane from Eng
land to Australia. 1t was Ross Smith,
later Sir Ross Smith, who had n gal
liant record for daring during the war.
few months ago, Sir Ross and his
brother, Sir Keith Smith, were get
ting ready to fly around the world.
They had completed their planes and
the feat seemed almost accomplished.
Early one morning Sir Ross arrived at
Brooklands where his machine was:
His brother was not at the field, and
he went up with Lieutenant Bennett,
n friend of his. At teight Of 5000
feet above the ground the airman be
gan series of Svolutions that he had
gone through hundred times in orler
to test thoroughly every strut and guy
in his plane. Those watching were in
terested, but not alarmed, and when
they saw the huge plane diving
straight for the earth they only con-
sidered ii a special sort Of trial. Sir
Ross was killed instantly and Lieuten-
ant Bennett lived but a few moments
after being put into an ambulance.
And so the list continues. There
was Capt. A. G. Resnati, the Italian
aviator, who was killed when Cap
roni plane collapsed at Mineola. There
were the Frenchmen, Vedrines, who
accomplished the feat Of landing on a
roof in his plane, who won a number
of aerial trophies for speed and alti-
tude, and who finally fell while flying
from Paris to Rome, and Gabriel Vol
sin, the famous ace, who was killed
while trying to fly his plane low to
enable him to shout to his brother-in-
law that he would be home for dinner.
Aviators are asking each other what
is the answer to 1t all. Is a man who
has come unharmed through exception
al peril apt to pay too little heed to
lesser dangers? Is 1t, after all, just
matter OF luckG