AIR CONQUERORS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 41, 21 November 1913, Page 10

AIR CONQUERORS.

» LOOPING THE LOOP. 11 FLYING HEAD DOWNWARDS. PARIS, Nov. 16. Mr Hueks, an linglish aviator, performed a iomarkable fourfold "looping the loop." He'was,twice head downwards for 80 seeondsj (kepi be wind ana rain. M. Honovill, a Frenchman, then 'looped tlio loop" twice and flew head downwards for 20 seconds. For his final appearance in England, at Brooktnnds on Satuiday, M. Pegoud, the upside-down airman (the originator ol '.'loop'ng the loop"), accomplished the seemingly impossible (stated : The Daily Mail' on September 29). He eclipsed himself. After the display M. Blerict stated that M. Pegoud had surpassed anything he had done in France. In ideal summer weather the little airman aroused to raptures a record crowd by a series of tlirill.ng feats which began with an immensely long glide head downwards and finished with four loops looped in quick succession. When one saw the immense array of motorcars one wondered thai there could have been seething crowds all the al tern-con at Waterloo to pack the special trains. And in addition there was the mob at every point of vantage outside Brooklands. M. Pegoud is a wonderful showman. He climbed steadily up into the, clear bit of blue sky where every eye could see him. Suddenly the crowd gasped, "Look!" At a height of nearly 4000 feet the monoplane dipped steeply down, then reared up"on its tail, and switching over continued its glide earthwards upside down. The engine stopped and the machine planed smoothly, steadily, while the seconds ticked on. Twice during that memorable glide, hanging head downwards, M. Pegoud started and cut off his engine, a feat which he has never accomplished before. A Mile Upside Down. When he had flown the entire length of the ground and had. been upside down for 70 seconds, M...Pegoud righted himself leisurely and soared up again while the cheering was drowned in a din of motor-horns. Three loops followed. In the second loop the machine seemed to side-slip, but was quickly righted by the imperturbable Pegoud upside down in his strappings. The last loop was cut with the utmost precision only. 500 feet above the ground. A beautiful descent in close spirals, which suggested a cat walking down a corkscrew staircase, brought 11. Pegoud to earth amid frantic acclamations. Scarcely an hour later he went no again, this time to begin with a 60Having regained his normal position, the airman ascended in circles, and, now almost in the centre of the aerodrome, took the steep plunge forward which makes the heart of the spectators sink. Then, in rapid succession, he looped two loops, clean and neat and perfect; then a third, after an" onward swoop to gain impetus, and finally a fourth. It was superb. When he landed he was pounced upon and carried into a shed, where for a quarter of an hour he had to shake hands and sign postcards.

On Saturday night 11. Pegoud delivered a lecture at the Hippodrome, where kinematograph films of some of his exploits were shown. returns to Paris next week to prepare for a European tour. In an interview published b'- the London 'Evening News' on Saturday M. Pegoud expressed the fear that people might emulate his performances without being perfectly fit or making proper preparations. '"Youmrst be very well and your machine must be in perfect condition."