Double flight delight at Horsham in 1911

On this day (August 4) the second of two planes within four days landed at Horsham in 1911.

The townsfolk had watched planes overhead on occasion as air races were a feature of this time. However, it was still a very rare opportunity to see one of these amazing feats of engineering close up, let alone two in a short space of time!

So when Mr Valentine landed in a meadow at nearby Warnham on August 4, dozens of cyclists set off from the town to inspect the Deperdussin Monocoque monoplane.

There was a fault with the plane and so Mr Valentine, who had been in race, borrowed a car from the field’s owner and left hurriedly for Brooklands to find a mechanic.

In the meantime, though, some of the locals had repaired the plane and it was moved to the far end of the field to give it a longer take-off.

The newspaper report of the time says: “The tall airman was most indulgent to autograph hunters and photographers and there were many amusing incidents.” Sadly none of these ‘incidents’ are mentioned in detail.

Having discovered his competitor was also struggling, Mr Valentine sat chatting with some friends and then had tea.

Finally, he set off and managed to complete the course and win the prize.

On August 1 Mr H. Barber, with passenger Miss Trehawke Davies, had also landed in the area, this time on the ‘Horsham Golf Ground’ in nearby Broadbridge Heath.

Local schoolchildren flocked to see the plane and there was great interest as news ‘spread like wildfire’. Many just ran out of their houses to get a view of the Valkyrie type B before it set off.

However, Mr Barber had been struggling in high winds that were making it unsafe to fly (dropping 300 feet in a couple of seconds!) so he had decided to land as soon as possible.

The plane was quickly roped off but not well enough as some folk decided to write their name on the wings!

The Golf Club secretary, seeing the large numbers of people turning up, asked the club professional to stand by the entrance and encourage folk to hand over a penny for the Horsham Cottage Hospital.

The plane was finally covered over for the night as thunderstorms threatened and police cleared the area (the entrance fee had riseb to 6d!). The crowd had swelled to around 3,000 with some people clambering over and damaging bunkers.

Mr Barber and Miss Davies attempted to take off but the pilot wasn’t happy with the engine and landed again, but then a little later gave the large crowd an exhibition of flying.

No-one knew when the plane would take off the following morning but this didn’t stop ‘a well known lady resident in a bathchair’ turning up at 4am.

In fact, the pilot flew the plane alone the short distance to Warnham Court, where both Mr Barber and Miss Davies had been invited to stay overnight, as there was a better take-off area and fewer people to get in the way!

Following another brief solo flight to test the engines, Mr Barber picked up his passenger and, after Miss Davies had put on her white gloves, the couple flew off into the distance.

As an aside, the Horsham Golf Club referred to was opened in 1906 but folded after the First World War.