115th anniversary of the plane crash that could have killed Harry Ferguson

Crashes were inevitable because no guides or manuals existed and as well as designing and building planes, aviators like Harry Ferguson had to learn how to control and fly their planes.

Boyed up with winning £100 Pounds in a competition at Hillsborough County Down on the 8th August, 1910 Harry Ferguson moved his plane that was built in the workshop of his older brother Joseph Bell Ferguson (J.B. Ferguson Ltd.) at Belfast to Magilligan Strand in County Londonderry. He found the beach at Magilligan level and flat, ideal for testing. On the 23rd August, 1910 Rita Marr who was from Liverpool became the first woman air passenger in Ireland when she took a trip along with Harry Ferguson in his plane. With the successful came a number of unsuccessful flights ending in crashes, the most serious of all was 115 years ago on Monday, 10th October, 1910.

That Monday afternoon Harry Ferguson agreed to take Mr. Clarke as a passenger to Bellarena Station to catch a train as no car was available. Clarke was a well-known aeronautical engineer who was from England and had been observing Harry Ferguson’s plane along with crowds of spectators on test flights. The flight was the world’s first recorded journey of a passenger taking a plane to catch a train. Harry Ferguson and his passenger proceeded to fly the distance of 5 miles along the strand to Bellarena. Flying at a height of 40 feet without any problems until a petrol blockage at almost journey’s end meant he had to descend and land. Due to increased wind conditions the plane was unable to then take off with the passenger because of the extra weight. Mr. Clarke completed the remaining short distance to the train station by foot.

After waiting for his 35HP J.A.P. (J.A. Prestwich Ltd.) London built engine that powered his plane to cool and rechecked the petrol system he decided to fly back the 5 miles to Magilligan Point. Restarting the engine he took off quickly rising to 80 feet and reaching 200 feet his greatest height and successfully completing his flight landing in the wheel tracks of the road the plane was pulled along each day from the beach.

Happy with how the plane was now operating and the success of his last flight, he waited once again for the engine to cool before he took off with a plan to circle the beach. He ascended to a height of 30 feet when an unexpected gust of wind at about a half mile distance into the flight hit the plane at the front. This caused it to rise straight up and as the speed then fell off the plane flipped over the left wing and came down sideways. Harry Ferguson had the forethought to keep the engine at full throttle and the plane became horizontal again but unfortunately as it did not have sufficient height it hit the beach crash-landing in the water at full speed. Harry Ferguson was thrown first from his seat by the force of the impact hitting his head on the left wing mast. He then bounced back and out of the air frame unto the broken wing, knocking him unconscious for around 4 minutes. Luckily he did not end up in the water as he would have drowned. After regaining consciousness he managed to make his way to the hotel where he was staying.

It was quickly realised his condition was very serious and Dr. Newell of Moville in County Donegal who crossed Lough Foyle by motor boat arrived quickly to attend to him. It was found Harry Ferguson had a very serious concussion, a split lip which had stitches applied and extensive bruises and cuts on his legs, body and face.

His plane’s fuselage lay sideways with one smashed wing below it and the other pointing in the air. Because of the strong design of the engine mounting and landing frame that remained intact this probably helped save his life as it did not become detached. Both propeller blades were broken off. The back of the plane’s fuselage was twisted and broken into many pieces with the wire stays that give the wooden structure of the plane its strength twisted and broken. All the control wires had been broken by the force of the crash and the fabric that covers the wings torn. The fabric was covered in blood stains pointing to the severity of his injuries.

Harry Ferguson would be interviewed on Tuesday, 11th October and despite being heavily bandaged and in great pain still was in good spirits, saying it could have been much worse, realising he had a very luck escape and lamenting the loss of his plane. He insisted if the plane had been 15 or 20 feet higher or had used a more powerful 50HP engine all would have been well. The crash did not stop him going on to develop a new and more powerful airplane in 1911, but finally from increasing pressure from brother Joseph after his friend John Williams crashed his latest plane in 1913 he would give up building and designing planes and begin concentrating on modernising the tractor and plough.

That was a very wise decision as 12 years later he would invent the modern tractor with quickly interchangeable implements and automatic depth control in the 1925 Ferguson Master Patent. His grand vision of 1925 with hope through prosperity to end war and conflict was perfected as the Ferguson System in County Tyrone in 1935 which he is best known as the father of the modern tractor and the man who fed the world.

Stevan Patterson, Castlederg.