Stanley Spencer (aeronaut)
Stanley Spencer (* 1868, † January 27, 1906 in Malta ) was the first English aeronaut, who performed a guided flight in a hydrogen balloon over the UK. He came from a family of flight engineers, business with his brother Spencer Bros. and the company reached with its test flights over London in the years 1902/ 03 such popularity that his name in England became a synonym for the future of aviation.
Life
All five siblings Stanleys were aeronaut, in particular Arthur and Percival achieved a certain notoriety. Her father, Charles Spencer Green founded the Balloon Factory CG Spencer and Sons, London; whose father Edward Spencer had been an experienced balloon driver and flew already in 1836. On September 15, 1898 contributed Stanley Spencer, with the German meteorologist Arthur Berson on board his balloon Excelsior, which reached a height of 8320 meters there.
The large flights over London in 1902 and 1903
Stanley Spencer lived in a time when the dream came true of flying and " blimps " reported one success after another. Been so in 1901 named the Man of the Year in the world Alberto Santos -Dumont had on November 13, 1899 for the first time revolves around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, winning two years later the highly doped German Prize and was: in particular, came from France News sensational precision Flights. Operated in Germany, researchers intensively research flights; they cooperated briefly with Spencer in London.
For the first time Stanley Spencer made in the summer of 1902 talked about. The London Times wrote on June 25 in their event category: " Crystal Palace - The Spencer Bros., so the weather allows, climb every day with their controllable airship. " Two weeks later honored him with the Times on the occasion of several successful takeoffs and landings on the Polo grounds in Crystal Palace the first short article and spoke of a " highly successful " test this " new British controllable balloons, the Mellin airship". After the positive outcome of test flights took " the Aeronaut his little nine year old niece, Miss Marie Spencer, on board " and flew with her to 70 meters a few rounds over the meadow.
With the bamboo, metal and silk constructed by himself aircraft Mellin Spencer succeeded on September 19, 1902, the flight which made him famous. He had spontaneously decided in the late afternoon to because of the favorable south wind and good visibility. At 16 clock he took off in Crystal Palace, rising to 100 meters above sea level and " steered the device, which was from beginning to end completely under his control, towards London City. The 3 meter propeller, powered by a gasoline engine Simms, turning gently with about 200 revolutions per minute. Also the rudder responded well. " Little later Spencer got into excitement, as the balloon rose to strongly upwards. The aeronaut was about to intervene, as the specially built by him safety valve automatically opened and the climb broke. Spencer wanted to directly cross from the south of the River Thames, which he failed because of sudden low visibility and instead veered west to Chelsea, where he watched from the bridge of " several hundred onlookers ," which he sake of a few laps on the river full led before then because of the almost becoming fuel and the onset of dusk over Earl 's Court and Acton with 7 1/2 miles per hour (12 km / h) flew to Eastcote in North West London and there under constant discharge of hydrogen from the cigar-shaped balloon landed. "Mr. Spencer finished this remarkable journey without the slightest mishap or any problems with the somewhat fragile-looking drive mechanism. " The Times reported a day later, would that the aircraft now transported back to the Aerodrome of Crystal Palace and inflated there before an audience new with hydrogen.
The success was a single event. Although Spencer took on his flights over London photos, which he sold as postcards, and on his balloon was advertising printed. However, he never reached his destination on longer flights. Probably because of the weak designed motor (4 hp) and tail was Stanley Spencer aircraft heavily mercy of the wind and could only be controlled with difficulty, however. Even a year later, with the new airship Excelsior and new drive (1000 rpm and 24 hp ), failed Spencers large advertised company, on September 17, 1903 St. Paul's Cathedral to circle around and fly back to the starting point.
World fame and death
Stanley Spencer's fame as a flying ship and parachute designer and springer (his aircraft were distinguished among other things by the availability of the air bag as a parachute ) leads him to travel to many countries, including China. He fell ill on the way back from India to England by ship from typhus and died in an emergency stop on 27 January 1906 at the island of Malta.