Editing Gustav Hamel (section)

===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/>