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Aviation History
1910
1910 - 0750.PDF
SEPTEMBER 17, 1910. WEYMANN'S SPLENDID CROSS-COUNTRY PASSENGER FLIGHT. the west of Clermont-Ferrand, after having circled round the Cathedral of that town. The sum offered of ,£4,000 is, of course, a great inducement, and it is quite evident from the work of Weymann that it will be now but a very few weeks before this grand prize will be annexed. The one feature in the rules which renders the task slightly less onerous is the fact that descents may be made to any extent en route, but against this the time limit is to be taken into consideration, as every minute lost in descending and taking on replenishments necessarily means precious moments whittled off the maximum of six hours allowed in which to cover the distance between the two points specified in the conditions regulating the prize. Had it not been for a storm encountered, and for fog and mist at the latter end of the journey, there is little doubt that Weymann would have succeeded in reaching his destination within the time allowed, in spite of a contrary wind. As it was, he managed to cover 420 kiioms. before having to give up for the time his attempt. Starting on Wednesday of last week from Buc on his Henry Farman, having on board with him Mons. Faye as passenger, he passed over the flying park of the Aero Club of France at Saint Cloud at nh. 58m. 59s. by the clock, thus necessitating him actually alightjng at the top of the Puy de Dome—5,860 ft. above sea level—at 5I1. 58m. 59s. also by the clock, in order to secure the prize. Taking a line at a height of 350 metres direct across Issy, he made at a big speed direct for Melun. Passing over the Loire at Gien at 1.40 p.m., his first stop was at 3 p.m. at Neronde, where he made a fine descent, and within five minutes he had replenished his stock of petrol and was up again, passing over Nevers at 3.15, and descending again at Chantenay St. Imbert, about 32 kiioms. the other side of Nevers, having at this point covered 290 kiioms. Unfortunately from here he encountered a storm which delayed him best part of an hour. Taking the air again at the earliest moment, at 4.30 he had reached Montlucon, which he passed over at a fairly low elevation, bearing away then in the direction of Gannat, and passing the latter place at 5.40. Immediately afterwards he entered the Department of Puy de Dome, although he still had a consider able distance to travel; but the mist by this time was troublesome, and he found it impossible to continue beyond Volvic, just beyond Mr. Weymann, the record flyer, who last week, on his Henry Farman, flew from Paris to Volvlc, 420 kiioms., in his great attempt to win the big Michelln prize for flying with a passenger from Paris to the Puy de Dome mountain in 6 hours. With him is M. Faye, who accompanied him as passenger. 748 [fticHTl DAY by day as more extended, more daring, and more astonishing flighte carried out in a masterly way without a hitch or hesitation of any sort become facts of the past, it is getting beyond even " dreamers" to think where the ultimate end is going to be. What with the extraordinary heights attained, one surpassing the other, the long-distance flights, with and without passengers, and the cross- sea trips by the score, which only three months back would have been regarded as epoch-making, culminating in Mr. Loraine's Irish Channel flight, it is difficult to know when to let enthusiasm have its fling over any fresh achievement, or take up the attitude of merely chronicling facts as they occur. First comes Mr. Drexel's high flight at Lanark, hugely surpassed almost immediately by Morane, he again bettering his own performance within a day ; and now again, even before they have had time to be formally recorded officially as records, these stupendous performances are once more lowered by the extraordinary altitude flight' of Chavez at Issy on Thursday of last week, when he is credited with having reached the astounding height of 8,790 ft. Then, again, the London-Manchester flight of Paulhan was hardly past before a series of other cross-country flights of long distances were accomplished, topped by Mr. Moisant's remarkable achievement between Paris and London, to be equalled in nearly all degrees and in some sur passed by Bielovucie's splendid three-stage flight between Paris and Bordeaux recorded by us last week. Before the printing ink was hardly dry on last week's issue of FLIGHT, Weymann—who, by the bye, hails from America—once more adds to the steady advance by his great and almost successful effort to annex the Michelin Cup, which was generously offered by Mons. Michelin about a couple of years ago, and which in those days even Mr. Henry Farman himself thought would not be likely to be won until many years had passed. It was hardly conceivable by the greatest optimist that within two years anything approaching a flight with a passenger from Paris to Clermont-Ferrand, a distance by railway of over 250 miles, should be accomplished by a pilot in an aeroplane, carrying with him a passenger, in a maximum time of six hours. Not only had the competitor for this prize to fly the actual distance, but at the end of the journey it was necessary for him to alight at the top of the famous Puy de Dome mountain, which is within five miles of
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