• Short Summary

    Shots of aeroplane and pilot Gustav Hamel.

  • Description

    Gustav Hamel - pilot.

    Location of events unknown / unclear.

    Men removing vertically placed long boards from side of big barn-like building. MS 2 men; young man buttoning his jacket over long scarf. Interior: workers moving unusual looking aircraft onto truck bed; several others; including a few young boys; stand and watch. The aeroplane's wings seem to be folded up vertically on sides of the body.

    Next shot of the plane being wheeled out of hangar towards camera; its wings are now horizontal. The plane has 3 rods forming a pyramid shape on top of the body; with several wires stretching from the pyramid's apex to different points on its wings. Side view of plane. Man starts to climb into passenger seat; pilot is already in his seat.

    Amendment January 2011: A Mr. Rich Meyer contacted the archive stating that this plane is almost certainly a Morane-Saulnier of 1912 or 1913.

    Amenmant September 2011: Antoher user has written in and disputes that this is the Morane-Saulnier aircraft and that it is in fact the Britannia Military Bleriot. Footage is from April 1913.

    The Aircraft was presented to New Zealand after the Dover-to-Cologne flight in April 1913. The man with Gustav is Frank Dupree of the 'London Standard.' And at the beginning of the film clip, you can see the men taking a banner from the underside of the wing of the Bleriot which has 'STANDARD' printed on it, because the paper was a sponsor of the flight, and Dupree was their representative (who accompanied Gustav as passenger).

  • Tags

  • Data

    Film ID:
    2474.32
    Media URN:
    77426
    Group:
    Old negatives
    Archive:
    British Pathé
    Issue Date:
    1910 - 1914
    Sound:
    sound
    HD Format:
    Available on request
    Stock:
    Black & White
    Duration:
    00:01:44:00
    Time in/Out:
    01:55:23:00 / 01:57:07:00
    Canister:
    ON 455 I

Comments (5)

  1. Unknown user says

    The "truck bed" is the livery of the famous "Pickfords" movers company.

    The film can have been made no later than 23 May 1914, this being the date on which Hamel went missing over the English Channel. Perhaps this will allow a reduction of the clip's current date-range of 1910-1919.

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  2. Unknown user says

    Yes, that would make sense! We'll get that date range narrowed.

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  3. Unknown user says

    There's much more footage of this aircraft in clip 2378.15, (a small amount of the footage from this clip also appears in it).

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  4. Unknown user says

    Further to my earlier comment, this same story appears to be continued in clip 2378.15.

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  5. Unknown user says

    This footage was taken at Dover, in April 1913, to record on film the beginning of a long distance flight undertaken by Gustav Hamel in the 'Britannia' Bleriot, which was paid for by subscriptions and later donated to New Zealand. The older man accompanying Gustav Hamel is Frank Dupree of the 'London Standard.' He was an American journalist, resident in London. The flight between Dover and Cologne took place on April 17th 1913. In May, the Bleriot used was officially named 'Britannia' by Lady Desborough, in a ceremony at Hendon Aerodrome. It was shipped over to New Zealand later that year.

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