A PIONEERING aviator chose a novel way to attend a court summons in Woking for speeding in his car – he flew in his own aeroplane!

He was Claude Grahame-White, who was born in 1879 into a wealthy family and was one of the first people in England to quality as a pilot.

In April 1910, he competed against French pilot Louis Paulham for the first flight between London and Manchester in under 24 hours. Unfortunately, Claude lost, and missed out on a £10,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail. However, the race made him a hero.

However, in July 1910, he did win a £1,000 first prize for what was called aggregate duration in flight (1hr 23min 20sec) at the Midlands Aviation Meeting at Wolverhampton.

In between those two competitions, in May, Claude, whose flying base was at Brooklands aerodrome, was caught speeding in his car at 40mph, when the legal limit was then 20mph.

It happened while he was driving between London and Brooklands, seemingly delayed by bridges in London being closed because of the large queue of people making their way to the lying in state of King Edward VII.

Mark Coxhead, who has researched this story, says Claude was clearly an English eccentric. For his court appearance Claude arranged to land his aircraft, a Fairman biplane, in a field in Westfield, where Honeypots Lane is today. The owner of the field was Francis Wellesley, who was also one of the magistrates Claude faced when he attended court.

Within its detailed report of this rather sensational story, the News & Mail wrote: “Early risers were astonished at about half past six in the morning when they saw a flying machine pass over the town… the loud throbs of the powerful Gnome engine at once attracted attention… the finest heavier-than-air machine to ever pass over Woking.”

In court, police sergeant Marks produced nine previous motoring convictions Claude had for speeding and dangerous driving.

The defendant told the court that he thought he must admit that, as he had driven for the last 14 years, that was not a bad record, as they were nearly all technical offences. He was found guilty of the latest of them and fined £5, with eight shillings and sixpence costs.

Several hundred people had gathered in the field where his aeroplane was being looked after by his team of mechanics. The tenant farmer charged the eager onlookers sixpence each.

The News & Mail wrote: “The crowd as they stood by watching the aeroplane with feelings divided between bewilderment and curiosity, could not help commentary upon the almost satirical phase of the visit – of a gentleman summoned for exceeding the speed limit on the earth to answer the charge upon a machine which skims through the skies, and for the present, at any rate, can enable the driver to laugh at police traps.”

As for the intrepid airman’s departure back to Brooklands, the report stated: “A strip of grass had been mown to give a free run to the wheels. The crowd were got back by the police to a safe distance. Mr White donned some most business-like looking overalls, took final farewells of the many newfound friends, and mounted into the seat of the aeroplane.

“He shouted a cheery ‘good-bye’. Immediately the great machine moved forward. But so quickly did the aeroplane gather momentum that in a few seconds it had covered the roughly made track of 60 or 70 yards and began to gradually rise, like a giant bird from earth.”

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