Biography
Gustav Hamel was educated at Westminster School and chose to learn to fly at the Blériot school at Pau, France in 1910 at the age of 21. He obtained the Royal Aero Club's Aviator's certificate no. 64 and the Aéro-Club de France's certificate no. 358. His first flight of note was on 24 March 1911 when he flew from Hendon to Brooklands in a record 58 minutes.
In the exploit for which he is best remembered, Hamel flew a Blériot on Saturday 9 September 1911, covering the 21 miles between Hendon and Windsor in 18 minutes (took off at 4:55pm and arrived at 5:13pm) to deliver the first official airmail to the Postmaster General. Included was a postcard he had written en-route. The many thousands of items of mail included commemorative postcards which are today treasured by collectors.
27 July 1912 The Hinkley Times reported:
"Mr Gustav Hamel, the famous aviator, brought his aeroplane to the Outwoods and gave a demonstration of powered flight. This would have been the first time that most Hinckley people had witnessed a motorized aeroplane. The aeroplane flew over Burbage and Sketchley. Many people in Mount Road saw the plane as it flew low over their heads. A mishap at the conclusion of the flight made any further flying that day impossible."
In August 1913 a seventy five mile air race around the Midlands was arranged between Benfield Hucks & Hamel. The take-off point for the contest was the Tally-Ho grounds, adjacent to Cannon Hill Park. Both aviators then flew anti-clockwise around the circuit, landing at Redditch recreation ground, Coventry, Nuneaton, Tamworth and Walsall in turn, and then finishing at Edgbaston. Hamel won the race by a margin of just twenty seconds. Hamel was quite active in Worcestershire, visiting Pershore racecourse in October 1913 where he gave exhibitions of flying. He also visited Upton On Severn, Worcester racecourse & Kidderminster cricket ground in October 1913.
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