Issue No 21 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN 47
and of a curvature designed to give maximum
lift for a minimum drift [drag]. The main spars
on which the ribs are built up are of the finest
selected straight-grained English ash, the spars
being machined out of the solid to the most
efficient section, and not built up.
“The accommodation for both pilot and
passenger is very comfortable, and a scuttle is
fitted up to each seat which prevents the force
of the wind from being uncomfortable on the
pilot’s and passenger’s faces. The speed of the
machine is 70 m.p.h. [113km/h], and the gross
weight 1,500lb [680kg].”
The top speed of the Type I was probably
about the same as the 504 prototype at the time
of the prospective race.
Like the 504, the Type I was a developed
design. Dr Malcolm Grahame Christie, a
prominent member of the Yorkshire Aero
Club, had enrolled in the Blackburn school in
about September 1912 and purchased a Type B,
similar to the type on which he was learning,
in December. However, Christie’s progress was
very slow and it was October 1914 before he
was to become a qualified pilot, being awarded
Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate No 954 on
the 27th of that month. In the meantime, Christie
considered buying a two-seater and employing
a pilot. Blackburn sold him a two-seater
development of its Type D monoplane, as the
Type I, and Christie’s flying instructor, Harold
Blackburn (no relation to the aircraft designer
Robert Blackburn), was employed to pilot it.
Christie’s Type I was delivered to the Yorkshire
Aerodrome at Moortown, near the centre of
Leeds, on August 14, 1913. He and Blackburn
then made flights and attended events in
Yorkshire, promoting aviation generally, and the
Blackburn company in particular.
It was agreed that the 100-mile course would
be circular and flown over Yorkshire. The initial
take-off and final landing points would be at
the Yorkshire Aerodrome, of which Christie was
a director. The start and finish line was to be
Holroyd’s Intake on the main Leeds—Harrogate
road. From there the aircraft would fly back over
Moortown and towards York. The aircraft had to
land at checkpoints at York, Doncaster, Sheffield
and Barnsley. At each checkpoint the aircraft had
to remain on the ground for 20min, presumably
so the spectators had something to look at. A
numbered “Special Aerial Issue” of the Yorkshire
Evening News was to be published for the race.
Each aircraft had to carry 50 copies, which were
to be distributed at each checkpoint.
As both aircraft were two-seaters, it was
decided that each would fly with a pilot and a
passenger. The crew of the Blackburn monoplane
consisted of Christie and Harold Blackburn. The
Avro 504 would be flown by Avro test pilot F.P.
“Freddy” Raynham, with Humphrey Verdon
Roe as his passenger.The race
On October 2, 1913, a large crowd gathered
at the Yorkshire Aerodrome to see the start of
the race. The French aviator Henri Salmet had
been engaged to give exhibition and passenger
flights in his two-seat Blériot XI-2 to entertain
the crowd while the two teams completed their
preparations. The race was planned to start just
after 1400hr and both aircraft ascended together
to pass the start line at 1414hr.
The pair were evenly matched on the flight
towards York, with Raynham landing first 25min
later, barely a minute ahead of Blackburn. The
newspapers were duly unloaded, but the restart
was slightly delayed when a small dog escapedABOVE LEFT Riding shotgun with Raynham in the Avro 504 was Humphrey Verdon Roe, younger brother of the
company’s founder, Alliott Verdon Roe. ABOVE CENTRE The photograph attached to Harold Blackburn’s Royal
Aero Club Certificate, No 79. ABOVE RIGHT Freddy Raynham, who began working for Avro as a test pilot in 1911.
VIA AUTHOR VIA AUTHOR PHILIP JARRETT COLLECTION