Gustav Hamel - Carrying Newspapers By Aeroplane

Carrying Newspapers By Aeroplane

An item in the magazine Flight, August 26, 1911 covered Hamel's unsuccessful attempt to convey newspapers from Hendon to Southend the previous Saturday. It appears that the publisher sponsored this event as a publicity stunt. However, heavy weather forced the plane down at Hammersmith in West London.

Saturday 9 September 1911. Gustav Hamel, flying his Bleriot XI monoplane, left Hendon at 4.58pm. He carried one bag of mail with 300-400 letters, about 800 postcards and a few newspapers weighing 23Ib and arrived safely at Windsor around 5.13pm. The centenary of the event was marked by the Royal Mail with the issue of a set of commemorative postage stamps on 9 September 2011.

Further reportage appears in the history of another airfield called 'Hendon' at Bradford, Yorkshire. He was the first to fly from there on Friday, August 1, 1913

Late in 1913, looping the loop was perfected and became a popular event during the many public displays. On January 2, 1914, Hamel took Miss Trehawke Davis aloft to experience a loop, and she thus became the first woman in the world to do so.

In March 1914 Hamel flew to Cardiff to give a public flying display. While there he met Charles Horace Watkins, who was an engineer perfecting his own aircraft called the Robin Gôch, or Red Robin. Contemporary newspaper reports indicate that a few minutes after they met, Hamel flew them both to Watkins' hangar, where they inspected the Robin Gôch.