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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0761.PDF
NOVEMBER 27, 1909. FROM ZURICH TO BOHEMIA BY BALLOON. BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE GORDON-BENNETT BALLOON RACE, 1909. By F. K. McCLEAN, the British Representative. THE Gordon-Bennett Balloon Race started this year from Zurich, in consequence of Col. Scheck's victory of last year. Mr. Griffith Brewer had been chosen as the .Aero Club pilot, but was too ill to take part, and Mr. Frank McClean being next on the list, secured the coveted honour of starting for Great Britain. By great good luck Mr. Mortimer Singer had just had built a 78,000 cub. ft. balloon of Continental fabric, and he being a most capable pilot, having had a thorough training at it, both abroad and in England, was invaluable as an aid. The " Planet" had only made one trip previously, and its equipment included every possible necessity for a long-distance trip. It was taken out in charge of Mr. Oswald Short and remained in his care till the actual start. From the arrival at Zurich till Sunday, when the race took place, everybody was as busy as could be. Food and drink had to be arranged for, as well as the many small things that always arise at the last moment. By the kindness of the Swiss Aero Club every possible help was received, but it is to Mr. Zwipel, of Wettingen, that the greatest thanks are due, for he was always at the disposal of the English members when there was anything to be done, and his •60-h.p. Fiat car was devoted entirely to their service. Right up to " hands off" he interpreted their wants and often anticipated them. On the Friday two other balloon racestook place in nearly a dead calm. On the Saturday it rained and the ground became a morass, but Sunday morning cleared, and with a medium breeze, hope returned. At 10 o'clock the balloons were nearly all laid out, and at IT filling began for those that were ready. Mr. Short had the "Planet" well in advance of the others, so that there was no hurry at the last. Many were not ready in time, and the •" Cognac," which should have started at No. 7, did not get away till much later. The American balloon was No. 6, and the " Planet" (No. 8) followed it. At this •stage of the contest we let Mr. McClean take up the story in his own words :— " Starting at 3.59 p.m., in beautiful weather, with a gentle wind of 15 or 16 miles an hour, we travelled in a north-easterly direction, and passed low over Kloten and Wulflingen. But the sky behind us was watery, and before long there were clouds in every direction, and the occasional rain that fell was a foreruviner of the storm that caught us during the night. We had been warned not to travel too close to the ground, owing to the danger from high-tension electric wires, arid we kept our trail-rope up for some distance to avoid possible contact with them. About a quarter-past five we came •close to the American balloon in charge of Mr. Mix, and found that they had used 4J bags of ballast as compared to our 5. This cheered us a little, as we had up to then feared that there was some- thing wrong with the balloon, but we weie unable to accept their very kind invitation to come over to dinner. They rose to a con- siderable height and went ahead, so we followed to over 4,000 ft. in order to get the same wind. " At 6.18, when it was getting dark, we weie over the Zeller Zee, an arm of Lake Constance, and were moving in a more northerly direction than any of the other balloons, of which there must have been ten or a dozen in sight. As we were rising, we now had dinner, consisting of cold chicken, cake, pears, and white wine ; but before we had finished we plunged into a cloud at a height of 5,200 ft. and a quick drop followed. We finished our thirteenth bag of ballast at 8 o'clock at a height of 3,600 ft. It was raining but fairly clear, and the lights of hundreds of villages twinkled up at us from the ground. But they were unrecognisable one from another, and all we could do was take our direction, which at this time was about 150 north of east. From 8.20, when the moon rose, till 2 o'clock, we took alternate periods of rest. All this time it was raining hard, and at intervals we were enveloped in cloud. The light from the moon was almost negligible, but we could see enough to mark our direction as about north-east to east-north-east. Till it.30 the ' Planet' never attained equilibrium, and in order to save ballast we poured away our water, and at every available opportunity threw away food and stores, but only when near enough to the ground to see that all was clear. " At 11.30 we passed some distance to the north of a large town, which presumably must have been Munich, but at the time we thought we were further north still. Then after trailing over some high ground, when we rose to 7,000 ft. without the use of any ballast, we crossed a large river running north and south, and our troubles began. In front of us was high ground, and the balloon seemed unable to make up its mind on which side to pass it. First it tended one way and then the other, but very slowly, and for nearly half an hour we remained in doubt. Then suddenly we made straight for the highest point and over it into dense cloud. We could tell that we had reached another valley by the precipitous fall of the balloon, and then the trail-rope touched and another tree-clad mountain rose right in front of us and far above. A bag and a half of ballast only cleared us by some 50 ft., and again we were in dense fog, while the wind whistling through our ropes showed us that we were in another ravine. For over an hour this continued, and when at last we saw land below us, we were travelling at some 40 or 50 miles an hour in a direction only a few degrees from the north. It was this period that upset all our calculations, for we took it that north had been our course all the time, whereas it must have been nearly south to land us where it did. " With dawn we sighted one other balloon to the north-east of us, but the downpour that followed blotted it out, and we were left in solitude, with a bleak and lake-strewn land below us, through which wound a river in a deep and rocky gorge. This river we followed for hours, at one time clearing it easily, and at another rushing at express speed right into its chasm. All the time ballast was required, for the rain literally beat us down. It poured in rivulets from the rain-band, but much followed down the leading lines, and prevented any possible sleep in the car, which quickly became soaked through and through. " We had entirely lost our position, as we judged ourselves to be between 100 and 200 miles further north than we were ; in fact, we were looking out for the Baltic Sea. Our belief in this was con- firmed by the lagoons we passed over at about 8 o'clock, with muddy, sloping banks, and every appearance of being tidal. " In view of the new rule disqualifying anyone who descends in the sea, we consequently attempted to ketp within sight of land, and when at a quarter to nine we again entered the clouds, we valved sufficiently to drop once more into the open. This was the beginning of the end, for we again came on to the trail, and it was only with the throwing of much ballast that we cleared the next hills. Then after crossing some cultivated land at a speed of not more than 15 miles an hour we plunged suddenly into a thick white mist, so thick that we could not see the ground even when our trail rope was touching, and here, although we still had some ballast left, we came to earth so gently that we sat on the same spot till assistance arrived and we were lifted into a patch of grass alongside. A crowd soon collected, among them a policeman with fixed bayonet, but all were good-tempered and willing to help in the packing. Luckily one man could speak French, and he showed us the way to the village, where we got the Mtyor to sign the ' Livre de Bord.' We were naturally annoyed when we found we had landed far south of our supposed position, and were at Remenin in Bohemia, especially as we could have lasted an hour or two longer. " During the storm it is probable that we travelled south instead of north as calculated on by us. This would account for our very big error in position, as our speed at that time was tremendous. •'.The greater part of our food and drink had gone overboard, but the locker remained, and our spare clothes and sleeping sacks, in addition to a certain amount of sand. " The Bohemians were most delightful people to land among, though somewhat inquisitive. The process of changing one's socks gave them the greatest joy, in spite of all protest. Most of them were barefooted. " Having got the ' Planet' into a cart, we walked to the house where the Mayor lived, and from there took a carriage to Kopidlno station. Once again difficulties of language arose, but in the end we found ourselves at Prague with the balloon safe, and we celebrated our return to civilisation by a hot bath and a Bohemian dinner." 763
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