An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July / August 2020 www.dfmagazine.ie 24 | BY GUY WARNER PHOTOS PROVIDED BY GUY WARNER O ne of the most remarkable figures to grace Irish skies was John C Evans-Freke, Lord Carbery, who gained his Aviators' Certificate at the Morane-Saulnier School of Flying at Villacoublay in France on 2nd September 1913, had made a name for himself in air races in England and Europe, includ- ing the second Schneider Trophy speed contest in April 1914 in a Deperdussin monoplane and the third Aerial Derby in June of the same year in his Morane-Saulnier. His family seat was in Co Cork at Castle Freke, where succeeded to the title in 1898 and grew up in comfortable circumstances. He had gained a reputation for wild behaviour from boyhood. At the age of eight placed an apple on the head of a gardener and shot it off with an air pistol. He also shot the hat off the head of a poacher in the castle grounds, slightly grazing his head; the hat, complete with bullet hole, has been preserved. At fourteen he went secretly to Cork and arrived back driving his first motor car. On 20th June 1914 he took part in the London to Manchester air race, flying a Bristol Scout, one of the most advanced machines of its day, capable of 100 mph. The following month he flew the Bris- tol again in the London-Paris-London race but had to make a forced landing in the English Channel with engine failure, was picked up by a passing steamer and 'did not get his feet wet'. He came home to Ireland in 1914, where he made several flights in and around Cork City in his Morane-Saulnier monoplane, a much more capable aircraft when compared with the types used by other showmen. Carbery performed the first loop-the-loop in Ire- land at the Clonakilty Agriculture Society's annual show on 5th July. The basic charge for a flight was £5, with a loop included the tariff rose to £25. On 9th July one of his passengers, Miss LE Townsend of Lislenane, Clonakilty, could claim to have been the first lady in Ireland to take part in a public flying exhibition. The Cork Examiner reported: "Amidst breathless silence, the machine darted forward, it ran along the ground for about fifty yards and then slowly and very gradually rose in the air against a fairly strong south-west breeze. As the machine neared the boundary of the grounds, the crowd became tremulous with fear for the safety of the aviator as it appeared as if he and his machine would collide with the corrugated iron fence. The suspense was only momentary, however, for the machine rose sharply and gracefully amidst the loud cheers of the crowd. Having performed two loops he then executed the 'falling leaf' descent before flying away." He was married to José Metcalfe, a spectacu- larly beautiful young woman, the daughter of Major 'Jumbo' Metcalfe, from an acceptable military background, but not a brilliant one. She had been born in 1894 in Australia. José was with John when, on 9th July 1914, Cork 'Aviation Day', he gave an aeronautical exhibi- tion over the city and then landed his Morane on the University athletic grounds at the Mar- dyke. The Cork Examiner described how: "He took his seat in the machine. His mechanic turned the propeller and the engine went to work right away, its eight cylinders emitting an artillery- like roar. Immediately on the machine getting clear, Lord Carbery put the monoplane in motion and ran it a short distance when it ascended at a very narrow angle to the ground, so narrow indeed that the uninitiated (and most of those present were uninitiated) believed that it would go straight to the football posts. However, when about 30 yards from the posts, the aviator cleverly changed the steering of his machine giving it an extraordinary angle to the ground so much so that it was almost perpendicular. In this man- ner it ascended swiftly and sharply and still rising it headed off in a north westerly direction." Carbery gave other displays over Bandon and Beaumont Park, Blackrock, where one of his passengers was Master Gerald Cobb, who was just 11 years old. "The people of the district," reported the Cork Examiner, would have "an opportunity of witnessing the dar- ing and youthful aviator performing in the air feats which it would be impossible to describe, and must be seen to be believed." And it later reported that there were "shrieks and gasps of terror" when "the noble Lord looped the loop over the crowd." Towards the end of the display, José went up with her husband. She was wearing a "tight fitting dark cap". Although said by some to be looking rather pale, "she evidently enjoyed the prospect of looping the loop." Flight magazine reported briefly on Carbery's activities in Ireland, "During the last fortnight Lord Carbery has been giving several exhibitions in Ireland. On Wednesday 15th July he was in Waterford in connection with the Agricultural Show there. The wind was rather troublesome, but he nevertheless put up several displays of looping, turnovers, tail slides &c, with and without passengers." Lord Carbery and his Morane-Saulnier

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