almost certain that had he been he could have righted himself. In fact the machine would probably have righted itself without any assistance from the pilot, for the manner in which the 50 hp Bleriot monoplanes are constructed would practically assure it. This is the first fatal accident in connection with the Hendon Aerodrome since it has been open as such to the public. Two deaths occurred, when it was more in its experimental stage as a flying ground. That was in 1911, when Lieutenant Cammell and Mr Benson were killed." The report submitted by the Public Safety and Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club concluded that the medical evidence established beyond reasonable doubt that Temple had lost consciousness in the air. Dr Leakey stated, in his opinion, Temple had incurred the gravest risk by flying in his then state of health, and concluded that he was in no doubt that Temple had fainted from the cold and fell forward on to the control column. Though almost certainly unconscious at the time, it is ironic to note that Temple was successful in looping th loop before he died. Flight chose to remember Temple as "a very promising pilot" who was "coming on tremendously in his flying." The report by the Public Safety and Accidents Invesigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club was published in the February 7, 1914 issue. Temple was buried in Acton Cemetery in a family plot, being joined there by his mother in 1924 and his father in 1935. George Lee Temple's memorial is the most ornate of the three, adorned with an angel and the words : 'Now gallant boy pursue thy happy flight with swifter motion haste to purer light.' Nick Forder References The Times 1913, 1914 Flight 1913, 1914 Manchester Evening News 16 May 1913 Aviation in Manchester : A Short History, B R Robinson Dizzy Heights : The Story of Lancashire's First Flying Men, C Aspin The History of British Aviation 1908-1914, R Dallas Brett Trafford Park : The First Hundred Years, R Nicholls The Flying Book 1914 Acknowledgements Docteur Rene Jean (original enquiry which stimulated the research, and photos) Paul A Courtney (details and photos of grave) Museum of Flight, East Fortune (unlimited access to Flight and a photocopier !)

 

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