Gustav Hamel

'Gustav Hamel' (1884 - May 23, 1914) was a pioneer Aviator.

Much information about Gustav Hamel derives to the early history of Hendon airfield where Claude Grahame-White was energetically developing and promoting flying.

"One of the first pilots who flew from Hendon during this period and who was soon to rival Grahame-White as Britain's most dashing aviator, was Gustav Hamel, the Eton-educated son of the Royal Physician, with a penchant for large powerful Mercedes motor-cars and flying. He was twenty six years old when he learned to fly at the Bleriot school at Pau in 1910 and his first flight of note occurred on 24 March 1911 when he flew from Hendon to Brooklands in a record 58 minutes, after that his name was seldom out of the headlines "[i]

The exploit that he is best remembered for took place on Saturday 9 September 1911. Flying a Bleriot he covered the 21 miles between Hendon and Windsor in 10 minutes to deliver the first official airmail to the Postmaster General. Including a postcard he had written en-route. The many thousands of items of mail included commemorative postcards which are today treasured by collectors.

Other references to Gustav Hamel help track the early days of powered flight and demonstrate the excitement their endeavours engendered at the time.

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 motorised 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."[ii]

CARRYING NEWSPAPERS BY AEROPLANE, An item in the magazine FLIGHT, August 26, 1911 covered Hamels unsuccessful attempt to convey newpapers 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.

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[iii]

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' hanger where they inspected the Robin Gôch. [iv]

In these early days flying was a dangerous endeavour, accidents and deaths were common, and Hamel never reached 30. He disappeared over the channel on 23 May 1914 while returning from Paris in a new 80hp Morane-Saulnier monoplane he had just collected. At this time of high international tension, there was speculation that he might have been the victim of sabotage, but no trace was ever found and the story faded with his memory.

Gustav's contribution to flying however did not end entirely with his death, a postscript was the posthumous publication of a seminal co-authored book on flying.[v]

References

[i] David Oliver. Hendon Aerodrome -A History-. Airlife Publishing Ltd. 1994. ISBN 1853102164

[ii] http://www.hinckley-times.co.uk/htm/history/1910.htm

[iii] http://yorkshirepride.portland.co.uk/hedon/page1.shtml

[iv] Information supplied by Richard Davies, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Industry at the National Museums & Galleries of Wales. The museum has a Robin Gôch In storage.

[v] Flying; some practical experiences Gustav Hamel and Charles C. Turner, London, New York [etc.] Longmans, Green and Co., 1914. xii, 341 p