FIRST FLIGHT of Humber-Sommer 1910

FIRST FLIGHT of Humber-Sommer 1910

The place in aviation history of the otherwise unimportant Humber-Sommer .biplane is assured by the fact that it was an aircraft of this type which undertook the world's first carriage of mail by an aircraft. This event was part of the Universal Postal Exhibition held in Allahabad in India during February 1911. During the exposition, the French pilot Henri Pccquct, on February 18, across the Jumna river from Allahabad to Naini Junction, in all some Skm (5 miles) with 6500 lelters.

This bizarre and isolated journey is generally accepted by philatelists as the world's first aerial post and some actual examples of the postmark still exist. Four days later, a 'regular' sen'icc for the duration of the exhibition was opened by Pcequet and Captain Walter G Windham, the aircraft that they used again being the Humber-Sommer biplane.

Though a number of aircraft types were produced by Humber before World War I, none of them was designed by the company, whose principal interests lay in the motor industry.

The first machine produced by Humber, in 1910, was the Humber-Blhiot Monoplane, a copy of the Bleriot XI, followed by the Humber-Le Blon Monoplane and the Humber-Lovelace Monoplanes, two in number.

The fifth aircraft produced by Humber was the British version of the biplane designed by the French pioneer Roger Sommer, and derivcd essentially from the Farman III biplane of 1909.

This was itself a reworking of the classic Voisin biplane, though the concept of inherent lateral stability had been abandoned in favour of positive control by ailerons. Humber appear to have hedged their bet to a certain extent, for the Humber-Sommer was fitted with sloping sidescreens between the upper and lower wingtips, outboard of the ailerons, in a fashion similar to the side-screens favoured by the Voisin brothers, Gabriel and Charles.

The Farman III is onc of the classic aircraft of all time, and, with the Blhiot XI, was the most popular European aircraft in the period from 1909 to 1911, appearing in a number offorms. Sommer's interest in the type stemmed from 1909, when he new the second Farman III at the great aviation meeting held at Rheims under thc auspices of the champagne industry. During the aviation rally, Sommer's best performance, in about ten flights, was a distance of60km (37 miles).

Humber·Sommer details

Type: utility aircrart

Maker: Humber Ltd

Span: 13.92m (4-5ftBin)

Length, 12.19m (4lJft)

Height: not available

Wing area: 4-7 m2 (506 sq rt)

Weight: not available

Powerplant: one 5D-hp

Humber 4-cylindcr watercooled inline engine

Performance: maximum speed approx 56 km/h (35 mph) at sea level; range

Payload: 91 kg (200lb); seat for I passenger