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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0444.PDF
JULY 24, 1909. Farman's New Record. IT is really extraordinary how one good flight leads to another. On the top of the successes of Paulhan and Sommer, comes Henry Farman, right to the fore again, with a flight of 1 hr. 23 mins., which he accomplished on Monday at Chalons, July 19th, after eight o'clock in the evening. Mr. Farman has always given preference to the twilight, and it was not until 8.17 that he made a start. From that time he remained aloft until 9.40, when it became practically impossible to continue by reason of the darkness. The present machine which Farman is using has an increased gap compared with his former model, and is also fitted with runners instead of wheels. Balancing planes are attached to the extremities of the main planes. On Wednesday at Chalons, Farman took up Mr. Cock- burn in the new flyer which this young Englishman is acquiring from him. They circled round the camp, covering a distance of 3 kiloms., their total weight being over 200 kilogs., made up as follows:—Cockburn, 92 kilogs., Farman 70, and fuel, &c, 40. M. Paulharrs Continued Success. ALTHOUGH it is but a few weeks ago that M. Paulhan was first heard of in the world of practical flight, his progress is of such a nature that it seems almost incredible that the time when flight was actually demon- strated as being possible by the Wright Brothers is only a matter of under two years ago. The particular machine which M. Paulhan is using is a Voisin biplane with a Gnome motor. Last week, during practice at Douai, flying at a height of 30 metres, he covered 12 kilometres in about 15 minutes. This he followed up on Thursday last by flying, again at Douai, before an audience of about 5,000 people, for a period of ih. 17m. 19s., thus bettering the record time of Tissandier, and coming near to the recent record time of Latham on his monoplane. The actual official distance measured from the posts constituting the official course was 48*178 kiloms., but, as a matter of fact, not much less than 70 kiloms. could have been covered, allowing OF THE LATHAM'S CHANNEL FLIGHT.—Hubert Latham's return to Calais.The scene after his landing. for the long sweeps round the limit posts of the aero- drome each time to ensure safety. His height for flying also was very impressive, it varying between 100 and 230 ft. high. Had it not been for the giving out of his fuel supply he would have found no difficulty in con- tinuing far beyond the time he accomplished. On Sunday last M. Paulhan made a successful official attack upon the high-flying record, and without any difficulty beat the record hitherto held by Wilbur Wright of no metres (360 ft.) established on December 18th last at Auvours. The height marked by balloons at Douai for this purpose was 120 metres (393*8 ft.) and Paulhan, without any fuss, not only cleared this height, but must have been flying at an altitude of at least 490 ft. Subsequently Paulhan made another attempt for time record, but at the end of 57 metres he returned to terra firma, this time having exhausted his supply of petrol. On Monday last his daring was further demonstrated by a splendid cross-country flight of about 13 miles in 22 mins., from Douai to Arras, at a speed of about 40 m.p.h. Starting from Douai he came down in a field about 1 kilom. out to attend to his carburettor. He then restarted and flew direct to St. Nicolas, 6 kiloms. from Arras. After a greeting and reception by the Mayor of Arras, Paulhan started on his return journey, but finding the wind freshening, whilst his motor was also showing signs of temper, he deemed it prudent to re- alight. Unfortunately some unseen barbed wire caused considerable damage to his machine. Aviators will evidently, in this respect, be able to sympathise with the feelings of fox-hunters. That this young aviator has ambitions is evident from the fact that he has made formal entry for the Daily Mail /io,ooo prize, for a flight from London to Manchester, which he hopes to try for during the autumn. Flight is progressing truly. Orvilie Wright's Successful Flight. - - AT last the Wrights have put an end to the suspense in America, for Mr. Orvilie Wright has now accomplished two successful flights, the first on Saturday last, when he covered about 12 miles in 16 mins., and the second on Tuesday of this week, when he made a flight lasting 1 hr. 21 mins. in the evening. This con- stitutes an American record, and beats Curtiss' best flight which was made on Saturday. During the course of the flight Orvilie Wright ascended to an altitude of 150 ft. Wrights' Small Flyer. THE present machine with which the Wrights are flying at Fort Myer has less surface than their previous model, the main planes being only 36 ft. by 6 ft. The pres- sure reaction has in consequence gone up above 2 lbs., and is now estimated at about 2% lbs. per sq. ft., which in turn leads to a higher sustaining speed. This has had the result of lengthening the starting rail, and increasing the acceleration necessary for ascent. It has been at the back of the recent difficulties which have caused the delay in complying with the Government contract. 446
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