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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0662.PDF
JUGHf AUGUST 20, 1910. SCOTTISH INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT MEETING. By OUR SPECIAL COMMISSIONER. Wednesday, August 10th. THIS day was a remarkable one in many ways. In the first place the weather was almost ideal, the wind rarely being above 5 miles an hour, and for long periods it was given as o to 1 mile. Huge crowds were attracted, special trains from the length and breadth of Scotland all day pouring their passengers into the ancient little town of Lanark, interesting from its associations with William Wallace, till, as we mentioned in last week's issue in the brief particulars of the doings during the earlier part of Wednesday, some 50,000 spectators were gathered in the enclosures. This number sets up a new record for attendance at an aviation meeting, the largest hitherto being barely half this. Also there was far more flying than has ever been seen in this oountry before in one day. From start to finish there was rarely an interval, and at times three or four machines were in the air together. Three new records were set up, and the day was not without incident, although happily no one was hurt. A visit to the hangars in the morning showed that the repairs to Dickson's Farman were well advanced, the new frame with engine being in readiness for fitting and the skids in course of adjustment. In Blondeau's shed great activity prevailed, his machine being far more seriously damaged than Dickson's. Audemars, having tried a change of engine in the little Demoiselle, without any better results, has given it up as a bad job, and accordingly had it taken down and con centrated his attention on the Tellier. This combination of the skill of the famous builders of racing boats and the equally famous car manufacturers—the Panhard-Levassor engine—is one of the most promising designs. Its hull formation should result in a con siderable lessening of skin friction, while the detail work shows signs of experience hard won on the deep sea. The water-cooled I'anhard engine too should spell reliability when thoroughly tuned. Cody was fitting up two water-cooled Green motors, developing together some 120-h.p. Marcel Hanriot had his machine ready for flight, while Kuller all but had his Antoinette complete. He is having a forward strut of the distinctive Antoinette design made on the ground, and this is the one detail to which any close observer must take exception. If the front end of the skid were continued further forward and upward, and preferably slit to give greater flexibility, the arrangement might be satisfactory, but as fitted at present this skid would appear to invite disaster in alighting suddenly on rough ground. New arrivals at the hangars are a Short biplane for Colmore and a Farman type built by Howard Wright, with an E. N.V. engine, for Dickson. Drexel opened the day's proceedings by entering the altitude competition, the conditions being apparently perfect. There was a dead calm over the course, but above the clouds could be seen to be in distinct motion. One was not surprised, therefore, when at a height of about 1,400 ft. Drexel commenced to descend, and on his return he reported a strong and gusty wind above the i,ooo-ft. level. Shortly after Cattaneo ventured up, but the appearance of a somewhat awesome thunder-cloud deterred the little Italian from ascending further. Happily the cloud passed, and McArdle next tried for altitude, followed by young Hanriot; the latter went up in easier stages than McArdle, and at 1,300 ft. he cut out his engine, and described a beautiful gliding flight, to the delight of the assembled thousands, who gave the plucky youth a great ovation on his return. Hanriot senior was delighted with his son's success and also with the reception which his machine had met with on this its first appearance at a British meeting. This monoplane is notable for the rearward position of the pilot, but the horizontal fins near the tail did not seem to be serving any very useful purpose as they were distinctly flapping, which must have retarded progress somewhat. Radley won the Starting Competition in 107 ft., which is 2 ft. better than his Monday's performance, but 3 ft. behind Gilmour's starting distance on the same day. Cattaneo made two British records during the day, covering the remarkable distance of 141 miles 188 yards in 3 hrs. 11 mins. This is both a duration and a distance record for this country, the best performance hitherto being Paulhan's cross country flight from London to Lichfield (118 miles in 2 hrs. 39 mins.). In the evening the Italian made another flight of 54 miles. Drexel made three good flights of 47, 64 and 67 miles respectively, the last being in company with Cattaneo, and the two raced together for several laps. Champel, after 33 miles, fell in a fir plantation and some 30 trees had to be cut down before the impaled biplane could be extricated. Minor mishaps were frequent durirjg the day. Edmond came down rather suddenly while on a passenger flight, Audemars broke a wheel, and Grace and Vidart damaged their running-gear by alighting too suddenly. Radley did well this day, and must be counted as one of the most promising of the newer aviators. In the day's speed trials he made by far the best performances, and down the straight on one £* «*§P Competitors at the Starting Line at Lanark Meeting, as seen from the Members' Enclosure.—The ^machines, reading from the front, are: No. 6, Cattaneo's Bleriot; No. 12, Gilmour's Bleriot; 18, Grace's Henry Farman; 131, Ridley's Bierlot; 11, Capt. Dickson's Farman 21, McArdle's Bl^riot; 8, Blondeau's Henry Farman; 5, Champel's Voisin. 660
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