were new to their
work, and the triumph was to get into the air at all. The first united
effort of the battalion, says Mr. Cockburn, was to fly from Larkhill to
Farnborough. 'It was a most exciting event; they went off at intervals,
and every one of them got there. It was a very creditable performance
both for them and for their mechanics. It must be remembered that the
latter were all inexperienced, but what they lacked in experience they
made up for in zest, always ready to learn, and as keen as possible to
go up. One of them at this time was the eldest of the McCuddens, and
many of the others are now (1918) officers holding considerable
positions in the Royal Air Force. They were a fine lot of men, and
deserve their success as pioneers.'

The higher grade Aero Club certificate was obtainable by the successful
performance of a cross-country flight to a destination named a short
time before the start. Cross-country flights were much in fashion, so
that pilots were away from the battalion for about half their time. They
flew in mufti; Lieutenants Barrington-Kennett and Reynolds more than
once got into trouble for being away as much as a week at a time. These
absences were sometimes due to engine failure, sometimes (it was
believed) to the discovery of a well-provided country house and kind
hosts.

The army manoeuvres of August 1911, appointed to be held in
Cambridgeshire, were the event of the summer; and the Air Battalion was
detailed to take part in them. Owing to the shortage of water in that
droughty summer the event never came off, but the aeroplane company
started from Larkhill, and met with plenty of incident on the way. Air
Commodore Brooke-Popham, who was at that time attached to the company
from the Staff College, has very kindly set down his memories of the
flight. He started from Larkhill with Captain Burke on the old Farman,
with the object of making Oxford, but owing to a slight adverse wind and
the low speed of the machine, which made only thirty miles an hour in a
calm, they had to be content with Wantage, and got to Oxford the next
morning. Lieutenant Barrington-Kennett, with a mechanic, made a forced
landing in the neighbourhood of Burford, but with the assistance of
Captain Brooke-Popham and Lieutenant Hynes, who went to his rescue in
the only motor vehicle possessed by the company, he got into the air
again, and also reached Oxford. Meantime Lieutenant Conner had had a
crash in a fog, without hurt