Editing Gustav Hamel (section)

==Aviation career==
===1910-11===
He learned to fly at the [[Blériot Aéronautique|Blériot]] school at [[Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Pau, France]] in 1910 : after observing his first flight Louis Blériot commented that he had never seen a pilot with such natural ability.<ref name=dnb>{{Cite ODNB|id=39597|title=Hamel, Gustav}}</ref>  He obtained [[Aéro-Club de France]]'s certificate no. 358 on 3 February 1911<ref name=earlyaviator1000>[http://earlyaviators.com/edavelam.pdf List of deaths from Early Aviators website]</ref> and the [[Royal Aero Club]]'s [[List of pilots awarded an Aviator's Certificate by the Royal Aero Club in 1911|Aviator's certificate no. 64]] on 14 February.<ref name=earlyaviator1000/> In March he won first prize in a race from Hendon to Brooklands and back,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Aeronautics |date=20 March 1911 |page=10 |issue=39537 }}</ref> and on 14 April 1911  he flew from [[Brooklands]] to [[Hendon]] in a record 17 minutes.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200352.html?search=Hamel Fast Trip From Brooklands to Hendon] [[Flight International|''Flight'']] 22 April 1911, p. 254</ref>

On May 6th, he won a race from Brooklands to Brighton against three other competitors, [[Howard Pixton]] [[Graham Gilmour]] and Lt. Richard Talbot Snowden-Smith, covering the distance in 57 minutes in a Bleriot monoplane.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Aeroplane Race To Brighton.|date=1911-05-04 |page=06 |issue=39579 |column= }}</ref> Also in May, he was one of the pilots who took part in a demonstration of flying to various members of the government, where he demonstrated the usefulness of aircraft for carrying dispatches by flying a message to [[Aldershot]] and returning with a reply. The {{convert|64|mi|km|abbr=on}} round trip took two hours, much of this time due to difficulty in starting his engine for the return journey.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Military Airmen At Hendon |date=13 May 1911 |page=10 |issue=39584 }}</ref>

In July 1911 he was one of the British representatives in the competition for the [[Gordon Bennett Trophy (aeroplanes)|Gordon Bennett Trophy]] but crashed shortly after takeoff, fortunately without injury.  Later that month he competed in the [[Daily Mail Circuit of Britain air race|''Daily Mail'' Circuit of Britain race]], reaching [[Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway|Thornhill]], north of [[Dumfries]], before  retiring after a forced landing due to engine problems in which he was slightly injured.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Air Race Won By "Beaumont" |date=27 July 1911 |page=9 |issue=39648 }}</ref>
[[File:Photo Gustav Hamel 1910 - Touring Club Italiano 11.3167.jpg|thumb|Before the attempted flight from Hendon to Southend]]
An item in the magazine [[Flight International|''Flight'']], of 26 August 1911, covered Hamel's unsuccessful attempt to convey newspapers from Hendon to [[Southend]] the previous Saturday.
It appears that the publisher sponsored this event as a publicity stunt.
However, heavy weather forced his aircraft down at [[Hammersmith]] in West London.

[[File:The Aerial Post by Hiram Hollands.jpg|thumb|Sheet music cover, c.1911]]
On Saturday 9 September 1911 Hamel flew a [[Blériot XI]] the 19 miles between Hendon and [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] in 18 minutes to deliver the first official [[airmail]] carried in Great Britain. He carried one bag of mail with 300-400 letters, about 800 postcards and a few newspapers weighing {{convert|23|lb|kg}} and arrived safely at Windsor around 5.13pm. Included was a postcard he had written en route.

On 12 October 1911 Hamel made his first cross-channel flight when he ferried a new Bleriot monoplane from Boulogne to Wembley. This was the first of 21 cross channel flight that he was to make.<ref name=dnb/>

===1912===
<!--27 July 1912 The ''Hinkley Times'' reported:

''"Mr Gustav Hamel, the famous aviator, brought his aeroplane to the Outwoods and gave a demonstration of powered flight. This would have been the first time that most [[Hinckley]] people had witnessed a motorized aeroplane. The aeroplane flew over [[Burbage, Leicestershire|Burbage]] and Sketchley. Many people in Mount Road saw the plane as it flew low over their heads. A mishap at the conclusion of the flight made any further flying that day impossible."''<ref>[http://www.hinckleytimes.net/news/local-news/past-times-125-years-hinckley-6652473 Past Times: 125 years of The Hinckley Times: 1910s ]</ref>-->
Hamel made the first cross-channel flight with a woman as passenger on 2 April 1912, when he flew [[Eleanor Trehawke Davies]] from Hendon to Paris, with intermediate stops at [[Ambleteuse]] and [[Hardelot]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Channel Flight With A Lady Passenger |date=3 April 1912 |page=8 |issue=39863 |column=C }}</ref>  Later in the month he assisted [[Harriet Quimby]] to become the first woman pilot to cross the channel by testing her newly delivered Blériot monoplane before her flight.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=First Channel Flight By An Airwoman |date=17 April 1912 |issue=39875 |column=B }}</ref>

Hamel made the  first flight from [[Hedon Aerodrome|Hedon airfield]] near [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] on Friday 2 August 1912.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010307133302/http://yorkshirepride.portland.co.uk/hedon/page1.shtml Glory days of Hedon Airfield] access date 4 September</ref>
    
Hamel took part in the first [[Aerial Derby]] race, carrying Eleanor Trehawke Davies as a passenger. At first he was credited with the fastest time, since [[Thomas Sopwith]] was disqualified for missing one of the control points, but after Sopwith successfully appealed Hamel was relegated to second place.

===1913===
In April 1913 Hamel made the first cross-channel return flight carrying a passenger, the ''[[Evening Standard]]'' journalist Frank Dupree.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times|title=Double Channel Flight With a Passenger|date=12 April 1913|page=8|issue=40184}}</ref> and later that month flew with Dupree as passenger from [[Dover]] to [[Cologne]], the first time that a flight had been made from England to Germany.  The flight, sponsored by the ''Evening Standard'', was intended to draw attention to Britain's need for military aircraft.<ref name=dnb/>

In August 1913 a seventy five mile air race around the Midlands was arranged between [[Bentfield Hucks]] and Hamel. The take-off point for the contest was the Tally-Ho grounds, adjacent to [[Cannon Hill Park]]. Both aviators  then flew anti-clockwise around the circuit, landing at [[Redditch]] recreation ground, [[Coventry]], [[Nuneaton]], [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]] and [[Walsall]]  and  finishing at [[Edgbaston]]. Hamel won the race by a margin of just twenty seconds.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200960.html The Hucks-Hamel Race] [[Flight International|''Flight'']]  6 September 1913, p. 986 ]</ref>

Following his disappointment the previous year Hamel entered the 1913 Aerial Derby, flying a Morane-Saulnier monoplane.  This time he won the competition, completing the course in 1h 15m 49s at a speed of {{convert|76|mph|kph|abbr=on}} despite a fuel leak which resulted in him having to fly part of the course plugging the leak with his finger.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%201038.html The Aerial Derby ] [[Flight International|''Flight'']] 27 September 1913</ref>

Hamel was quite active in [[Worcestershire]], visiting [[Pershore]] racecourse in October 1913 where he gave exhibitions of flying. He also visited [[Upton-on-Severn]], [[Worcester Racecourse]] and [[Kidderminster Victoria Cricket Club|Kidderminster cricket ground]] in October 1913.

===1914===
Late in 1913, looping the loop was perfected and became a popular event during public flying displays. On 2 January 1914, Hamel took Eleanor Trehawke Davies aloft to experience a loop, and she thus became the first woman in the world to do so.  On 2 February he gave an exhibition of looping to the royal family at Windsor, making 14 loops before landing on the East Lawn of [[Windsor Castle]]. After lunch with the Royal family he gave a second exhibition before returning to Hendon.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Hamel At Windsor |date=3 February 1914 |page=6 |issue=40437 }}</ref>
    
In March 1914 Hamel flew to [[Cardiff]] to give a public flying display. While there he met [[Charles Horace Watkins]], who was an engineer perfecting his own aircraft called the Robin Gôch, or Red Robin. Contemporary newspaper reports indicate that a few minutes after they met, Hamel flew them both to Watkins' hangar, where they inspected the Robin Gôch.<ref>Information supplied by Richard Davies, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Industry at the National Museums & Galleries of Wales. The museum has a Robin Gôch In storage.</ref>

In May Hamel announced that he intended to attempt to win the [[Daily Mail aviation prizes|£10,000 prize awarded by the ''Daily Mail'']] for a flight across the Atlantic ocean, flying a specially built [[Martin-Handasyde]] monoplane.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1914/1914%20-%200546.html The Atlantic Flight] [[Flight International|''Flight'']] 22 May 1914 p. 546</ref>