FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0669.PDF
* OCTOBER 23, 1909. JUVISY FLIGHT MEETING. THE outstanding event of the concluding days of last week was the visit of the President of the Republic, while if the meeting is remembered by posterity it will be because it provided the starting place for the magnificent historical flight by Count Lambert over a part of Paris. This is referred to on page 661, so that it is unnecessary to further deal with it here. We therefore take up the story of the flying from the conclusion of Wednesday's flights, where we broke off last week. On Thursday flying was not possible till 4 o'clock, when Latham, who had by then repaired his monoplane, made an attempt to fly, but he could get no farther than the lower end of the course, where a violent gust of wind caught the flyer and brought it to earth, twisting the frame and rendering further flight impossible that day. A few minutes later Paulhan rose and saved the situation, creating a little thrill by passing beyond the boundary of the aerodrome after completing three circuits. He flew away over the outskirts until he was almost out of sight, then, turning, was quickly back in the aerodrome, receiving quite an ovation when immediately afterwards he was being presented to M. Fallieres. Count Lambert made an attempt to start, but fouled one of his runners in some way. Gobron, on his Voisin, was more fortunate, flying six rounds in 11 mins. 421 sees. ; while in a second trip for the Totalisation Prize Paulhan completed 11 circuits in 26 mins. Friday was marked by the first serious accident at the meeting, and, by a curious coincidence, the victim was the late Capt. Ferber's assistant, Richer. AUhough not officially taking part in the competitions, he was practising on the Voisin machine belonging to the Ligue Nationale, with which he has obtained a certain amount of success. He had made two good practice flights early in the morning, and then made some alteration with the object of trying a long essay. He got away in good style, but when attempting to turn lost control of the machine, which crashed down on one wing, and became a shapeless mass of fabric and wires. The aviator was picked up unconscious, and was at once taken to the ambulance station, where it was found that although no bones had been broken his injuries were rather serious. He is, however, progressing favourably. The only flight was by Paulhan, and the way in which he managed his machine was loudly applauded. During the five circuits of the course he covered, his machine was sometimes tilted at alarming angles by the gusty strong wind, but he never failed to bring her round. Saturday last was more or less a blank day, as the strong winds precluded flying, and the only flyer daring enough to brave the tempest was Latham, who went round the course twice. Similar weather was experienced on Sunday, set apart for the official visit of the Aero Club of France, and it was not till late in the afternoon that Lambert gave a fillip to the proceedings by flying nine laps. Latham and Gobron started soon afterwards, the former continuing for two laps and the latter for four. Monday saw Bregi, the new Voisin pilot, making his debut at Juvisy, and he performed very creditably by completing ten circuits in 25 minutes. His mount was the Voisin machine which Paulhan has been using recently. Gobron was the other flyer to actually get into the air and keep going, he covering six laps in a little faster time than Bregi. Of course, the flights of this day were quite over- shadowed by Count Lambert's flight round the Eiffel Tower, reported in full elsewhere, but an exciting incident occurred towards the end of the day. M. Blank, who had been practising at Issy with a Bleriot, took it to Port Aviation. He started on a flight, and rose to a height of about 50 ft., when he seemed to lose control, for he dashed into one of the stands with the propeller still revolving. One lady was rather badly cut, and several had narrow escapes, while, of course, the machine was considerably damaged. Tuesday was largely a repetition of Monday, Bregi flying round the course eight times, Lambert five times, and Gobron six times, while the last two had a close duel for the Paul Cretenir prize, which was won by only one-fifth of a second by Gobron. The distance was two kiloms., and Gobron took 2 mins. ±\ sees., while Lambert could not get nearer than 2 mins. 3 sees. Wednesday, the fourteenth day of the meeting, was the last on which attempts could be made for the Falco prize for the longest flight, and for the total distance prize, but the wind was against the aviotors. It was too strong for any but the most daring to attempt to launch themselves into space until about half-past four in the afternoon, when Busson, on the W.L. D., tried to fly, but was not very successful. Then Bregi brought out Paulhan's old Voisin, but he only completed one turn. Then Count Lambert came out, and made a passenger flight, carrying with him Count Malynski, who has purchased one of the Wright machines. Two turns of the course were made, the first in 2 mins. 24 sees., while lhe total time for the two laps was 4 mins. 40 sees. The only other flight was by Bregi, who also carried a passenger—Mdlle. Jeanne Lalog—round the course once. STODE QUINZAI ME DE PARISPort-Aviation DU 3 AU 17 OCTOB PRIX CONSM MUNICIPAL >*PARIS CONSEILBflttRALSSEIHE »S^ oCnC0URA6CHEIfT»L-AVIATf0ll Poster for the Flight Meeting at Port Aviation. 671
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
