Odd Down
ODD DOWN: Temporary aerodrome for exhibition flying
Operated by: Gustav Hamel and Frank Gooden
Location: W of the A367, roughly 1.25nm SSW to SW of Bath city centre
Period of operation: 4th to 6th April 1914, then 30th July 1914
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
We have Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', to thank for both discovering this location, researching the subject and providing the following items.
The advert was published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 4th April 1914.
The Article One in three parts was also published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 4th April.
These three items were published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 11th April.
Article Three was published in the Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser on the 11th April.
Photo Two and Photo Three were, once again, published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 11th April. What caught my attention was Photo Two, just look at that attitude so close to the ground! It appears that when flying solo and demonstrating loops, Hamel was quite happy to throw 'all of his toys out of pram', leaving nothing in reserve. This said he did climb higher if a passenger requested a loop. How things have changed over the years - when I was being given instruction in basic aerobatics we would climb to around three to four thousand feet - just in case it all went a bit 'pear shaped'. And this was in aircraft a lot more powerful than Hamel's machine. Both in engine power and aerodynamic control authority. But of course, unlike us being so risk averse, in those days taking risks was all part of the thrill.
The short article was published in The Scotsman on the 6th April. Photo Four, yet again, was published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 11th April.
But, Photo Five is from the Somerset Guardian and Radstock Observer, 10th April.
The local area view is from my Google Earth © derived database. Please note that not all the locations listed in this 'Guide' are pinned in the database.
A NEW DISCOVERY
In July 2025 Mike Holder discovered this account published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette on the 1st August 1914.
There is a most interesting aspect regarding this 'exhibition of flying' in that it was held on the day before a government order was issued to cease all civil flying in the United Kingdom. This being part of the preperations taking place before the British Empire declared war on the German Empire on the 4th August 1914.
We have no idea if Frank Gooden was aware of this edict being forthcoming, but, he did obtain a special permission being granted to perform a display at LIPTRAP'S ESTATE, Tunbridge Wells, on the 3rd August. (See seperate listing). It may also be worth mentioning that Gustav Hamel, by then truly a 'superstar' as we would call him today, vanished over the English Channel on the 23rd May 1914 whilst delivering a brand new aeroplane from France.
NOTES: Here yet again, even by 1914, famous aviators giving daring displays of flying, could still attract very large crowds. Just one pilot with one machine as often as not. After WW1 this soon changed, quite quickly really, until before long the era of the 'Flying Circus' came about, roughly around the end of the 1920s. When, in effect, a fleet of aircraft were needed to attract crowds of a similar size.
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