Derek Webb: 'So Near, and Yet So Far' (2020)

Description

Lede
Two years before the official first flight from Britain to Ireland another intrepid airman came within a few hundred yards of claiming the record.

Story
The official first flight from Britain to Ireland took place on 22 April, 1912 in a Bleriot monoplane piloted by Denys Corbett Wilson, who flew from Fishguard in Wales to Enniscorthy in Wexford. But two years earlier another attempt came within a whisker of making the crossing. The pilot this time was an intrepid actor-airman, Robert Loraine. Loraine was the actor who first played in George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Man and Superman’ which opened on Broadway in 1905. It was so successful that it was taking $12,000 a week and broke all records. Lorraine made so much money he did what every wealthy man might do: he bought an aeroplane. It was his passion, and he is credited with coining the term ‘joystick’, although he wasn’t regarded as a very good pilot.

Nevertheless, five years later he resolved to fly across the Irish Sea and had his Farman biplane specially adapted for the trip, including a four-hour petrol tank and special compass. He took off from Holyhead on 11 September and all went well until at around 4000 feet his engine suddenly cut out. He went into a dive and at around 20 feet from the sea the engine spluttered and cut back in again.

The same thing happened five times before he was within sight of the Irish coast and, as Howth Head loomed up in front of him the plane went into another dive, but this time the engine didn’t restart and he plunged into the sea near the Bailey lighthouse – just a few hundred yards short of his goal.

His Farman turned turtle and Loraine struggled onto a rock resisting help from the lighthouse keeper because he wanted to make it to the Irish shore unaided. The Dublin steamer ‘Aden’ saw the crash and finding Loraine’s plane floating partly submerged, upside down, hoisted it up and onto the deck of the steamer. The damage to the aeroplane was found to be relatively slight and later it was sent to London for repairs.

Loraine too needed to be in London because at the time of his attempt to cross the Irish Sea, he was rehearsing for a play that was due to open in London’s West End. It opened only a few days after his failed attempt to cross the Irish Sea – and, bizarrely, the title of the play was ‘The Man from the Sea’!

When World War One began he joined the fledgling Royal Flying Corps and served as an observer over enemy lines. For a time, his pilot was Denys Corbett Wilson, the man who is credited with officially being the first man to fly from Britain to Ireland, two years after Bob Loraine’s attempt. Loraine later went on to become a relatively famous film actor appearing in several Hollywood films.

Factoid
- In 1910, Robert Loraine attempted, unsuccessfully, to become the first person to fly from Britain to Ireland. He took off from Holyhead on 11 September.

- The engine of Loraine's Farman biplane cut out several times over the Irish Sea. It stalled for a final time just short of Howth Head, and Loraine was plunged into the sea, just short of his goal.

- Robert Loraine was an actor on stage and screen, and a friend of George Bernard Shaw. During the First World War, he served as an observer with the Royal Flying Corps. He died in 1935.

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