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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0460.PDF
JULY 31, 1909. LATHAM'S SPLENDID SECOND ATTEMPT. IN cheering the success of Bleriot, it is impossible not to sympathise with the disappointment of the vanquished. Mr. Latham's machine was ready on the Sunday to fly, but by the time he had heard of M. Bleriot's start it was too late, for the wind increased in force very quickly, and •although Mr. Latham might, had he been left to his own devices, have actually made the attempt that day, he was formally forbidden to do so by MM. Levavasseur and Gastambide, his co-directors. Naturally, he was upset, for it was the disappointment of a lifetime, but he remembered all the same to send a message of cordial congratulation to M. Bleriot on his landing, and that he is in no way disheartened may be gathered from the fact that he added, " Hope to follow you soon." It was then reported that he contemplated going one better, by flying from Calais and continuing as far as London. Be this as it may, on Tuesday, July 27th, Mr. Latham made a fresh attempt to fly the Channel, this time failure occurring only within a mile or so of the British shore. It is almost impossible to do justice to an occasion so extraordinary, or to express adequately the regret which all the world feels in sympathy with one who has tried so gamely once again, and lost. Pluck and perseverance have not sufficed to prevail over misfortune, but that the laurels of success should have been lost while the crowd yet cheered what they supposed would be a victory was hard indeed. Tuesday morning in Calais was sufficiently fine and calm for Mr. Latham to decide upon waiting no longer. Rising at dawn, he made a short trial flight to test his newly-arrived machine, but unluckily when landing some slight damage was sustained, and it was not until 5.50 that evening (English time) that he actually left the French shore at Cap Blanc Nez for the passage. Flying extremely fast, Mr. Latham mounted steadily upward as he raced along at a terrific speed, and to anxious watchers on the French cliffs all seemed well, in view of the splendid start that had been accomplished. Very soon those at Dover sighted the speck in the distance, which gradually evolved into the white-winged Antoinette monoplane, and henceforth the eyes of some 40,000 spectators or so were gazing excitedly at the wondrous sight. Nearer and nearer came the flyer, and more and more demonstrative became the enthusiasm of the people. From all sides sirens shrieked their welcome through the air; but even while the clamour was at its height the end came. From its straight course the aeroplane turned suddenly aside, made a sharp descent, recovered its direction, and again lost it, all in a moment; then, to the horror-struck gaze of the spectators, the flyer glided sharply down on to the water. The anti-climax was so sudden and unexpected that for the instant tense silence greeted the catastrophe, and then, what a commotion ! Everyone to the rescue, whether they could get there or not; out sped cutters, pinnaces and tugs, the sea was alive with driven craft converging on a point, not forgetting the French destroyers which were gradually closing up the inter- vening space between themselves and the scene of the collapse. It was, however, the steam pinnace of the battleship "Russell" which won the race, but Mr. Latham, who was temporarily safe on his floating air-craft, elected to go aboard one of the French boats which by this time had reached the scene of action. In the descent on the water Mr. Latham's goggles had been broken and his face cut by the glass, so that he needed surgical aid, and it was not for some little time afterwards that he was put ashore at Dover. Mr Latham attributes the failure of the 100-h.p. Antoinette motor to the same cause as on the previous occasion with his smaller motor, but thinks that they were in no way brought about by the rain which was falling rather heavily during the greater part of the trip. The failure of the engine was quite sudden, and the gliding descent very much more acute than upon his first attempt. Mr. Latham does not appear to have lost control of his machine in any way, and it is therefore hardly correct to say that it " fell" into the water. Its buoyancy was again demonstrated in spite of the fact that the fore-part of the machine dived under the water owing to the weight of the motor. It was not until early on Wednesday morning that the " Antoinette VII " was successfully salved. About midnight on Tuesday the Calais tug-boat " Calaisien " took charge of the aeroplane, which had by that time drifted towards St. Margaret's Bay, and the captain decided to tow it to Calais. Although the work was slow and difficult, the French port was eventually reached, and the machine hoisted out of the water by cranes. It was placed in a warehouse, and carefully guarded to prevent a repetition of the damage done to the " Antoinette IV " by relic hunters. @ @ £4,000 CHANNEL PRIZE FOR ENGLISHMEN. BARON DE FOREST has made a most munificent offer to encourage flight in this country, for he has placed a sum of ^4,000 to be awarded as a prize for the first Englishman who crosses the Channel on a British-built aeroplane. Originally the sum he offered was ^2,000, but directly he heard of M. Bleriot's success he doubled the amount. The letters in which Baron de Forest makes public his gift are addressed to the Editor of the Daily Mail, as follow :— " I am writing to you to say that while the prize offered by the Daily Mail for the first successful flight across the Channel is an incentive to the cause of general progress and science, yet I cannot but view with a certain degree of uneasiness the imminent realisation of an eventuality which even twelve months ago seemed but the wildest chimera; and I think that the extraordinary progress accomplished in aviation during the last year decidedly places the practicability of an invasion of this country through the air within the bounds of a perfectly reasonable and not far distant possibility. " I think that the feeling of apprehension increases when it is observed that the candidates for the Daily Mail prize at present in the field are all foreigners about to compete on foreign-built machines. " While this should not be considered as an argument for Tariff Reform, but rather as one for protection in the better and more national sense of the word, I think that some good purpose may be served by a prize being offered to the first Englishman who successfully flies across the Channel on an English-built machine. " I beg to subscribe ,£2,000 for that purpose, and I hope that further amounts may follow. " Spencer House, St. James's, July 25th. DE FOREST. " P.S.—By Englishman I mean to include Irish and Scotch. The definition of flying had better be the same as that governing the conditions of the present prize. DE F." "Wrote and sent you letter this morning, before I heard of M. Bleriot's feat. Will now double amount offered, but winner must beat the then existing time record for the flight. A • other conditions hold good. " Folkestone, Sunday Afternoon. DE FOREST." 462
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