THE GREAT FLYING FEATS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12386, 6 December 1909, Page 8

THE GREAT FLYING FEATS.

DUEL WITH THE WIND

By Percival Phillips.

■ London "Express" Special Correspondent. BLACKPOOL, October 19. In coiinectjbii with the flying week at Blackpool; it was a case of being thankful for small mercies to-day, for of all the fifteen aviators who are quartered on the South Shore flying field only one successfully breasted the vicious wind winch swept in from the Irish Ssa. and ho did so at the risk of his life.

Few, it" any, of the fifty thousand or more spectators who were longing for their moneys worth realised that little Paulhan., who clung with one hand to the framework of his biplane as it reeled under the angry gusts, was litsrally flying on the edge of eternity. They were interested in a complacent kind of way, and .the ladies in the stands fluttered their handkerchiefs as he came. past. Some of them complained that he was travelling a little too slow, and they wondered why he did not go aloft as he and Rougis? did ye-terday instead of keeping near thfr plain. But Paulhnn's faithful mechanic? and his aerial compatriots watched his duel with the wind with their hearts in their' nvuUhs. ' POPULAR OVATION. Rougier, as pluofcy an aviator i\.s> ever steered a Voisin, sat en the .grass beside his machine, which was ready for flight, refusing to take the same desperate chances and shaldne; his head gravely ns Paulhan passed overhead, still holding tishtly to the rigging in order not to be thrown from his scat.

With characteristic modesty Paulhan bolted to his shecl as soon as he dcs- (: ended after travelling about sixteen miles, and it was after some difficulty that the committee haled him out and escorted him nnst the stands to the strains of the Marseillaise."

Today's contribution to the Blackpool aviation week might'be summarised as follows:—

One successful flight. One catastrophe. SeA'eral misfires. One postponement. A twenty-mile wind. Showers.

Weather indications were by no means promising when the van of the invading army of sightseers clamoured at the gates at tea o'clock. Motor-cnr? laboured through the mud and bumped over the. converted golf course in a seemingly never-ending procession, while the rank and file of the invaders. rearsured by the precision and regularity of yesterday** flying, nut down their shillings and half-crowns with confidence, and induced their friends to do th c same. Many cautious prople invested their first money ■ n aviation io-dav after waiting to see whether these flying machines would really fly. So they trooped into the grounds with the same calm assurance

j:g they would patronise a football "\itch or any other sporting fixture. Then they demanded flights.

LATHAM'S MISHAP

At first it feemed that they would b? speedily satisfied. Here was Latham disguised in cap .and raincoat watching his beloved Antoinette as she received the finishing touches from his mechanic. He had motored out early fr.mi his quarters at the Aero Club, and was jnst as anxious to be* up in the air as the crowd were to see him fly.

His shoulders were huddled n little together and lm head thrown forward in that curious poise which is the mark oF the flying man. Some call it the aeroplane stoop. mliere-_is no mistaking it. For.rnier, tlT© massive, b^oad-shoulderiu motor expert who tried aviation almost by accident, has acquired the same tell-tale droop, the Sanaa downward tilt of the chin, and the restless eye"-; of the pilot who is accustomed to regard the world from aloft. " ■

Lighting another cigarette—one wonders if Latham could fly without a cigarette between his teeth—the, piaster of the Antoinette followed his aerial cruise;l down to the starting-place. He looked more boyish than ever, with his cop jammed over his'eyes and the yellow macintosh buttoned tightly over his slender figure. Even a* we watched him we wondered wl'P+.Ker tho goddess of misfortune would again sten in at the very last moment to wreck his hones, as shehas d"iie so many tinier since the collapse, in the Channel contest. It did not s?ein rwssible. The wind was not string, the course was an e'isv one. nnd the monoplane itself had been tried and tested in every detail.

And yet 'lisnste- was waiting for this unlucky pilot. Just beyond the first bunker of' thn golf course, a few hundred yards away. Antoinette began her journey far past the stands, so that as she sped toward? thf* starting line every sne^tator 'on that side of the course had a splendid vl^w of the beautiful crui.-er—the most beautiful of all a-eronlaiips—ind the man at the tiller as she lifted, skimmed over tho grass for a i'e.w yards, ami then rose in earnest with indescribable grace. We could see that the wind nnnovecl Antoinette: She swerved petulantly

us a sudden gust caught her awning and then, as her pilot veered round still more to begin the long side of the rectangle broadside to the sea sho tecame more and more unmanageable. Latham threw her head sharply, for he saw a bunker ahead, and she was ominously dose to the ground. She obeyed, but only for an instant. There wa a moment of'suspense for the intent spectators. The monoplane hit the bunker, tilted under the shock, threatened to stand on he:- head, and then just as Latham hall! rose in his seat as though about to jump and avoid being thrown on his head and meeting the Fate of Lefebvrc, who was crushed to death by his own engine, she settled- down heavily and stopped dead. The propeller was bent . and one wheel of the boat-like body broken off. Latham dismounted with a little gesturo of despair, and waited patiently for his mechanics, who arrived with sympathy and a spare whesl. Presently Antoinette was towed back fco the shed, and the rest of the time was spent in making good to-day's damage, so that the indefatigable pilot may try again to-morrow. TRIPLANE'S FLIGHT. Another equally indefatigable aviator occupied the' attention of the crowd just after Latham's smash. There were smiles of amusement not unmixed with sympathy when the strange little triplane on which Roe has spent so much time and labour came out courageously for another attempt to fly like the French machines. It seemed that every gust of wind would rip vi) the paper-covered planes, and the cockleshell construction in which the inventor sits when trying to fiy looked dangerously insecure. The inventor" who is small and youthful, started his big four-bladed propeller, vaulted into his flimsy seat, and away he went, skidding somewhat drunkenly over the srrass but undoubtedly making headway. He tilted his planes, the tail of the diminutive machine ro-;e, and before anyone could make the usual prophecy that "h c will never get into the air'"' he put these false prophets to shame by clearing the ground and still keeping on his course. He was ouite 10 feet in the air, and he stayed at this moderate eminence for at least 40 yards. Then the triplane dropped again like a fledgling that was still too weak to usa its wings. Can you imagine the triumphant smile on the faca of Roe as he hauled her back into his enclosure and set alxnit "touching her up" again? If pluck and perseverance' can win prizes, the builder of Bulldog 111. will some day come iuto his own.