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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0001.PDF
JANUARY 2, 1909. Wright's Flight for tbe Michelin Cup; Official Record. THE Committee who witnessed Wright's long flight for the Michelin Cup on December 18th have issued their official report, which gives the following details of the event. The course was marked out by flags forming an isosceles triangle, having two long sides of 1 kilom. each and a short side of 200 metres, the total length being thus 2 "2 kiloms. Wilbur Wright started by the aid of his derrick at ioh. nm. 40s. a.m. He made forty-five complete circuits of the triangle in ih. 53m. 595S., which is equiva- lent to 99 kiloms., reckoning according to the Michelin Cup rules. In addition he flew 400 metres to and from his starting rail, thereby bringing the total official distance to 99*8 kiloms., which constitutes the world's record to date. The total duration of the flight was ih. 54m. 53fs. His Previous and Latest Speed Records. ON September 21st, as our readers will remember, Wright flew 66"6 kiloms. in ih. 31m. 2o|-s.; on December 18th the same distance, reckoning from the com- mencement of the Michelin Cup flight, occupied only ih. 15m. 57fs., or conversely he flew 12-4 kiloms. further in the same time. His Further Attempts. IT was Wilbur Wright's intention to make a further attempt to improve his record for the Michelin Cup on December 26th, his flight on the 18th of that month having been brought to a premature conclusion by the accidental closing of the petrol tap. As the thermometer registered 2 degrees of frost, however, he decided that it would be too unpleasantly cold to remain as long in the air as he wished, and but for the arrival of M. Henri Lillaz (chief official in the Public Works Department) he would not have gone out at all. As it was, he only made a short demonstration flight at half past three in the afternoon. There was a little delay in starting, but once the motor was got under way, Wright indulged his visitors to a very fine sight, for instead of going far away, he made sudden turns, rising and falling at an angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts, sometimes coming quite close to the ground, and at other times spinning across the heads of the officials. As a grand finale he made five circuits of the trial ground at a speed of from 50 to 60 kiloms. per hour, with the engine going all out, and finally he descended just in front of his shed. It has been reported that when Mr. Wright examined his machine before the start of this demonstration flight —which it must be remembered was to have been his big attempt for the Michelin Cup — he found petrol instead of lubricant in his oil tank. If this be true, it would have been a singular mistake for Wright himself or any of his assistants to have made, and it is significant that he was prevented for the first time from returning to sleep in his shed on Christmas night through dining with the members of the Sarthe Aero Club. On Wednesday of this week Wright again made an effort to improve upon his record, but once more the excessive cold—18 degrees Fahrenheit—stopped him just before he reached the 99 kiloms. As it was, he succeeded in covering 986 kiloms. (61J- miles) in \ ih. 52m. 40s. Although wrapped up in a rug and woollen head-gear, he was half frozen when he decided to come to earth, and it required two men to run the aviator up and down the grounds to restore his circulation, prior to his unfreezing in front of a huge fire. The planes of his machine, moreover, were frozen stiff as buckram, oil and water being also reduced almost to solid blocks. On Thursday he was determined to again attempt a bigger record. Wilbur Wright's Migration. WILBUR WRIGHT does not like the cold v;eather,i and as the days of glass screens and exhaust-he.itedi floor-boards have not yet arrived in the aeronautical! world, he has to bear the full brunt of the elements, with; the assistance of a favourite leather waistcoat, which, as a French contemporary politely expresses it, "fut elegant aux premiers ages de l'automobile." Very soon now, however, he will migrate to a warmer climate, for it is expected that he will start for Pau late in January. It is also • reported that he may shortly visit Italy in response to an invitation from the Italian Aeronautical Society, who have, it is said, asked him to allow three Italian aero- nauts to attempt flights on his machine. It was not until Monday last that he found time to visit the Paris Salon, where he made a critical inspection of the exhi- bited machine which bears his name. Flight at Olympia. STEPS are now being taken by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to obtain exhibits for the aeronautic section of the exhibition to be held at Olympia next March, so as to make it a thoroughly representative show. With this end in view, Mr. T. F. Woodfine, the Secretary, was in Paris during the Christmas holidays, endeavouring to induce the successful French experi- menters to exhibit in London. The Marquis de Mouzilly de St. Mars Enters the Field. A PURCHASE of considerable interest, which is reported to have been effected at the Paris Salon, con- cerns the acquisition of a Breguet aeroplane by the Marquis de Mouzilly de St. Mars. The machine, which is to be fitted with one of the Gobron aviation motors, is quite unlikely to be anything like the helicopter exhibited at the Salon, although, if made by Breguet himself, it is pretty well certain to have a steel framework throughout. According to rumour, it is to be a biplane with two propellers, but there is an air of mystery about most purchases of aeroplanes at the present time. The Marquis himself is a well-known figure in English motoring circles, where he has in especial conferred his patronage upon the motor cycling movement, and has . been a very good friend indeed to that cause. We welcome his early advent in the flying world, and wish him every success in his endeavours, more especially as we understand that he proposes bringing his aeroplane to this country, where it will be one of the first to be given a practical trial. German Aeroplane—The Grade. IT is reported from Berlin that an engineer named Grade has succeeded in making flights of from 100 to 13 2
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