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Aviation History
1911
1911 - 0006.PDF
(/QGHT] JANUARY 7, 1911. BARON DE FOREST'S £4,000 PRIZE. Mr. Sopwith Secures the Prize. ALTHOUGH several of the competitors kept their machines in readiness right up to the end of the year, none of them succeeded in bettering Mr. Thomas Sopwith's flight for the Baron de Forest's prize, and he has now been declared the winner accordingly by the Royal Aero Club. It will be remembered that on December 18th he flew from Eastchurch, across the Channel to Chirimont by Beaumont, in Belgium, a distance of about 169 miles. The only other competitor to cross the Channel was Mr. Cecil Grace, who so mysteriously disappeared while attempting to fly back from Les Baraques. The Last Attempts to win the Prize. BY the elimination of Mr. Claude Grahame-White, by reason of his mishap, and the subsequent unfortunate burning of his second Bristol biplane, and by th» retirement of Lieut. Watkins, consequent upon an accident while experimenting with Capt. Maitland's machine, the number of competitors was reduced to Mr. Loraine, Mr. Greswell, and Mr. Ogilvie. On the 28th ult. Mr. Loraine got his machine ready at Eastchurch in view of an attempt to cross the Channel, -but engine trouble intervened, causing him to delay his departure until the following morning. Then the weather conditions were again favourable, and the actor-aviator decided to make a preliminary trial before actually starting off. The engine, however, was again obstinate, and forced Mr. Loraine to land on bad ground, with the result that the machine ran into a dyke. The right-hand side of the main planes was badly damaged and Mr. Loraine was thrown out of his machine, but fortunately he escaped injury. On the Friday, Mr. Ogilvie decided to make an attempt from Camber Sands, near Rye, but after travelling half a mile decided that the wind was against the success of the trip and so came down, the machine being somewhat damaged by a sudden landing. As a precaution in case of an involuntary descent while over the sea, Mr. Ogilvie attached to one of the struts of his machine a blue flare lifebuoy signal, which are arranged to come into operation on contact with water. On the instructions of Mr. Greswell, who had intended starting from Eastchurch on Mr. Grahame-White's new machine, tugs were kept in readiness to pilot him across on Saturday, but in view of a dense fog which crept up the Channel it was wisely decided to give up the attempt, so leaving Mr. Sopwith as certain winner in the contest. THE BRITISH MICHELIN CUP. IN our last issue we were able to give brief particulars of Mr. Alec Ggilvie's splendid try for the British Michelin Cup, and it seemed then not improbable that his fine record would not be beaten. Both Mr. Sopwith and Mr. Cody were not to be so easily deterred, how ever, and on Saturday, the closing day of the competition, Mr. Cody secured the leading position, giving him the right to hold the trophy for 1911, as well as the cash prize of ^500. Just as in France, the competition on the last day proved an exciting one, for the three British flyers we have mentioned were making simultaneous attempts to seem e the coveted trophy. Mr. Cody's Winning Flight. AT 6.30 in the morning Mr. Cody was out on Laffan's Plain waiting for the heavy mists to rise, but seeing no signs of a change he decided to start in spite of it. Owing to the intense cold, Mr. E. Leroy found it necessary to turn the propeller for over 25 minutes before the engine would start. After the first few laps Mr. Cody rose to between 600 and 700 ft. in order to get above the mist, but when he had been going for two hours he descended to about 80 ft. from the ground, as the wind was blowing very gustily, sometimes at over 20 miles an hour. The speed of the machine was con siderably lessened after the first hour owing to the inlet-pipes being thickly frozen over, and, in iact, when Mr. Cody descended they were covered with ice a quarter of an inch thick. It was a magnificent flight, and the machine flew perfectly smoothly, even in the wind, until the petrol supply was exhausted. Mr. T. Sopwith, the winner of the Baron de Forest £4,000 Prize, on his E.N.V.-engined Howard Wright biplane during his second attempt at Brooklands for the British Michelin Prize. Note the old method of locomotion, the automobile stuck in the mud being assisted by the original "h.p.'s." 6
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