INTERVIEW WITH TRYGGVE GRAN, PART IV
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Unsuccessful landing with a Bleriot plane
- Major Tryggve Gran. In our last conversation you shared with us your thoughts about death and dying. Before that we talked about actor, aviator and soldier Robert Loraine. Was he the one who introduced you to flying?
- He told a lot of exciting stories about flying that made all listeners want to try it themselves! He also made me realize that breakthroughs in flying were going to dominate the headlines in the years to come. I wanted to be part of that!
On the other hand, he didn't have all that much time for me. He had his own projects and plans.
And perhaps, even if he had been willing to teach me, it might not have been such a good idea to ask him to give me my first flying lessons.
- Why not?
- For one thing, he was notoriously accident-prone as a pilot. He was also very impatient with beginners, and perhaps not the best of teachers.
- So what did you do?
- People in England were eager to hear about the Scott expedition, and that helped me get into contact with important people. I made friends with a Navy officer, whose son had an aeroplane. He took me for my first trip up in the air and showed me the controls of the aeroplane, and he let me try flying it. Unfortunately I nose-dived on landing and ended upside down among sheep and cows in the English country-side.
- A bad accident, was it?
- I was lucky. More than I deserved, perhaps. The plane could be repaired, and I only suffered some scratches.