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H. G. Hawker, airman: his life and work

Chapter 8: CHAPTER III
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About This Book

The biography traces the life of an early aviator who develops mechanical skill in youth, manages motor fleets, and pursues a passion for flying that leads him from home to England and to the Brooklands scene. It recounts trials and successes in design and flight, early employment and financial struggles, and his refusal to abandon hazardous work despite family responsibilities. Interwoven are personal recollections from his widow, portraying a modest, optimistic, generous character with occasional irritability and lax financial habits, and the technical, social, and emotional contexts of pioneering aviation. The narrative combines chronological chapters, eyewitness anecdotes, and illustrative photographs to convey both career milestones and private temperament.

CHAPTER III

ABOUT ALTITUDE AND OTHER RECORDS

A Colleague’s Impression of Harry in 1913—Harry in the Passenger’s Seat—“Aerial Leap-Frog”—Competition Flights at Brooklands—Testing the First “Bat Boat”—End of the First “Bat Boat”!—Harry as a Salesman-Demonstrator—Testing the Second “Bat Boat”—70 Miles per Hour in 1913—Asçent to 7,450 feet in 15 minutes—A Prize Flight—How Harry Deserted from a Race which He Won—How a Biplane Beat a Monoplane—More Seaplane Testing—The British Altitude Record—11,450 Feet—“Bravo, Hawker!”—A Journalist’s Tribute—Flying in a High Wind—To the Isle of Wight and Back.