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prevailing, otherwise he would have taken him over the mountain. The support
extended to the project has come up to the fullest expectations of its promoters. On
Saturday over 20 people were taken up by the two machines.

The Muizenberg season proved to be a short one and “flips” dwindled during the second

half of January. Other commercial possibilities were sought, such as advertising on their
wings, and offering “flips” in Port Elizabeth and the small towns of the Eastern Cape

and Karoo. They were also branded for Shell. After a long spell away from Cape Town
they returned in late 1920. In October they were hired by Irvin and Johnson Ltd. to do

whale spotting from Langebaan, but they were uncomfortable flying over the sea and
stopped doing that. At this time one of the planes, flown by Frank, with author

Lawrence Green as passenger, was the first aircraft to land on Robben Island and many

of the staff of the leper colony used the opportunity to view the island from the air.

At the end of 1920 Captain A. S. Hemming was taken on as their third pilot. 25-year old
Hemming was an experienced pilot, one of “Miller’s Boys”, who had been in action

with the RFC in the skies over Flanders, and won a DFC for his nearly a dozen

victories. He was also the Hon. Secretary of the Aero Club that had been formed in
January of that year. On 23 December the company was given permission by the City

Council to fly flips from Green Point Common and had started doing so on Christmas
Day. On 27 December Hemming took up three passengers in “Hermes”, one of whom

was a three year old boy – and then disaster struck. In the words of the Cape Times:

“The Angel of Death flew over Cape Town yesterday, leaving in its trail charred and
unrecognisable remains of three adults and one child, the victims of the biggest tragedy

which has so far occurred in the brief but chequered history of civil aviation in South
Africa. ….. yesterday’s tragedy will send a thrill of horror through the country.” (Cape

Times, 28/12/1920).

Explanations as to the cause of the accident differed. The plane had taken off on a track

close to the Sea Point railway line in the vicinity of Pine Grove station and in the
direction of Mouille Point lighthouse. Just before the lighthouse stood a 65 ft. high brick

sewer ventilation pipe and the left wings of the aircraft hit this. Portions of the wings