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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0425.PDF
17, I909. THE CHANNEL FLIGHT. "Mr. Hubert Latham (on the left) and M. Levavasseur, the•constructor of the Antoinette monoplane with which Mr. Latham has created such wonderful records, at Sangatte. WHATEVER interest may have attached to Mr. Latham's arrival at Sangatte, and to his subsequent pro- ceedings at the old Channel Tunnel works, it bears no comparison with the sudden enthusiasm aroused by his giving the Daily Mail the required 24 hours' notice to fly, on Friday of last week. When it is actually realised that a man has seriously notified his intention of -attempting to achieve a feat which has never before been accomplished in the history of the world and of doing so within 24 hours, the project comes down from the clouds with a run, and it is, indeed, no wonder that Calais and Dover should have been seething with excitement ever .-since. As luck would have it, our famous July weather .made flight impossible, first on Friday, then on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and so on up to the time of going to press, when Mr. Latham is still on French soil and still continues to calmly scan the horizon between times when he is not in touch with his Antoinette machine or renewing his notice to fly. Although up to the last moment hardly anything was done in the way of special preparation for the attempt, arrangements were very quickly elaborated once the project had taken definite shape, and one of the first preliminaries was the installation of a wireless service by the Marconi Co., who established communication between Sangatte and the roof of the Lord Warden Hotel at Dover. All being well, it was decided to land on the Rope Walk Meadow of Shakespeare Cliff. This spot was Mr. Latham's own choice, and except for the obstruction of two telegraph lines, it is fairly convenient. Dover and its officials have given themselves up to preparing a suitable welcome, and Mr. Walter Emden, ihe Mayor, last Saturday postponed a trip to the Continent in order to be personally present. En route the British Motor Boat Club had made arrangements to patrol the course with speedy motor craft, but Mr. Latham, in expressing his thanks for the offer of their services, stated that he had made arrangements for this work to be done from the French side by the torpedo destroyers, " Le Harpon" and " Le Calaisien," the latter boat being equipped to haul the flyer on board should it fall into the sea. Mr. Perrin, the Secretary of the Aero Club of the United Kingdom, also offered the assistance of a similarly equipped tug from the English side if it was required. Mr. Latham himself remains cool and collected amid his unique surroundings, and seems little affected by the undeniable excitement of the moment. Although his father was an Englishman, Mr. Latham, who is now 26 years of age, is a French citizen, and was born in Paris. He has served in the French army, and was for fifteen months at Baliol, Oxford. His first experience in aeronautics was obtained in 1905, when he accompanied M. Jacques Faure in a balloon trip across the Channel. This also was a record voyage, for in six hours he travelled from the Crystal Palace to the outskirts of Paris. He is a great advocate of high speed in flight, and intends to double the power of his flyer "after this Channel business is over." ""ANTOINETTE IV."—The monoplane with which Mr. Hubert Latham contemplates flying the Channel, and with•which he has already made such splendid records in France. In this view the entire general construction of the machine is well shown. 427
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