April 18

An Aviator Vanishes

Damer Leslie Allen via Wikipedia

In 1912 aviation was still in it's infancy, and a risky proposition. That didn't stop most aviators, though. The Wrights first flew in 1903, a short hop of only 120 feet, and a mere six years later aircraft had developed sufficiently that the first air race was staged, in 1909. That same year Louis Bleriot became the first to fly the English Channel, in his Bleriot XI monoplane. Records were being broken almost on a daily basis. Newspapers offered cash prizes for the first pilot to accomplish this, that or the other aerial feat.

One thing that hadn't yet been done was to fly across the Irish sea. Robert Lorraine made the attempt in 1910, but crashed into the sea due to engine trouble. He had come so close, he was able to swim to shore afterward. Now, in April 1912, three young pilots- Denys Corbett Wilson, Damer Leslie Allen, and Vivian Hewitt- were vying to be the first.

Each wanted to have the best chance to succeed, so each chose the aircraft best suited for the crossing, and each chose the same aircraft. The planes selected were three identical Bleriot XIs, the plane it's creator had successfully flown across the Channel.

Wilson and Allen took off from Hendon early on the morning of April 17, (Hewitt's attempt began on the 26th) despite very strong winds. Allen reached Chester, but Corbett Wilson had lost his compass and had to land at Hereford. Allen, meanwhile had continued on to Holyhead, while Wilson was stuck at Colva with engine trouble.

The next day, April 18, 1912, Allen took off from Holyhead to make the crossing to Ireland. He and his plane were never seen again. It was assumed he crashed into the Irish Sea and died of drowning or exposure, but no body was ever found. He could have had engine problems, but the plane was performing perfectly up to his last takeoff. It is true that the weather was deteriorating, but it caused Corbett Wilson no problem, once his engine was set to rights.

Bleriot XI via Wikipedia

Could it have been an inherent problem with the Bleriot XI? In 1910 a series of accidents with Bleriot XIs occurred due to wing failure. Bleriot promptly solved the problem by strengthening the wing spars and the upper bracing wires. By 1912 all Bleriot XIs should have had this modification, but did they? Was Allen's plane an earlier model? If it was, could the heavy winds have overstressed the wings? The other two aircraft made the crossing quite well.

Oddly, Allen, at the time of his death, was being sued for the recovery of a Gainsborough painting which he had sold at Christie's for close to nine thousand pounds. At the time of his death his entire estate was worth only seven thousand. Could this have had anything to do with his disappearance? The court eventually found against him. Suspecting that outcome, might he have decided to go out a hero?

 

Vivian Hewitt, who successfully made the crossing the following week, gave his opinion that Allen simply didn't have enough experience to handle such a difficult flight. Yet Allen and Corbett Wilson had obtained their aviator's certificates at about the same time.

Damer Leslie Allen did not make the first heavier-than-air crossing of the Irish Sea. To the best of my knowledge, though, he was the first aviator to disappear under mysterious circumstances.