GREAT AIR RACE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 67, 9 September 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

GREAT AIR RACE

WON BY A FRENCH NAVAL OFFICER. A THRILLING STORY. The second £IO,OOO prize given liy The Daily Mail for a supreme test of the reliability of the aeroplane was won on Wednesday, July 28, by "Andre Beaumont," the airname of Lieutenant Jean Conneau, of the French Navy, who flew 1010 miles round Britain, through mist, rain, and squalls, and over fells and mountains in less than 22% hours actual time in the air. Hours of flight. Miles H. M. S. per hour. Beaumont 22 28 18 .. 45 Vedrines 23 38 5 .. 42.% The total distance of 1010 miles was covered by Beaumont without injury of any kind to his Bleriot monoplane. It is a feat unparalleled, and one which opens new horizons to mankind. Close behind him came M. Vedrines, pressing hard upon him even to the very end. No episode in the whole story of airracing is more thrilling or replete with incident than the prolonged and desperate struggle between these two Frenchmen. Their experiences reveal in a breath the mystery and romance of the new art that ihas so suddenly been acquired by man. They drove for three days almost without sleep and food, through. lightning and rain and hail and eddying gusts; and dazed, numbed, and toil-worn but triumphant made their goal. M. Beaumont, whose experience is unique, describes the race as the severest he has undertaken. M. Vedrines laments his ill-luck. It was hard that victory should have been snatched from him when at the outset it seemed well within his grasp. In recognition of his splendid struggle, Lord Northcliffe presented him with a personal prize of £2OO on his arrival at Brooklands. A wonderful scene of enthusiasm marked the close of a wonderful race at Brooklands. When M. Beaumont dropped gently down from the sky with the grace and ease of an eagle settling after a long flight the crowd poured afyout him, cheered him to the echo, and carried him in triumph shoulderhigh. He responded with a speech of perfect modesty and tact to this great ovation. Nor was M. Vedrines forgoten when he too fluttered down. Once again the crowd swept down and bore him with cheers from 1 the field. Not the least feature of the race was the proof it afforded of the reliability of the modern aeroplane. Neither M. Beaumont nor M. Ved'rincs had to replace any one of the ten marked parts in tlieir machines. Five parts in each engine and five parts in each aeroplane were sealed, and by the conditions of the race two of these parts in each case had to be in place at the close of the race. After the prolonged flight, after the incessant buffeting, the engines and aeroplanes were intact. A flying machine has been evolved which in skilled hands will stand any strain, and which is capable of enormous journeys through the air. The winnsr used the Bleriot monoplane, while M. Vedrines made his flight in a Morane-Bovp] machine. M. Beaumont had the honor of being received by the King at Buckingham Palace on July 27.

Enormous crowds of spectators were' another distinction of the race. Tt was regarded throughout England and Scotland, and especially in the villages, as a national event.

HOW I WON BY AXDBE BF.AUMOXT. T was told when I entered for this race that it would bo the hardest task T had ever undertaken. I have certainlv found it so. All the difficulties which can hinder am airman's progress seemed to combine to bother us. First, there was fog. We ran into it thirteen miles from London, and it continued until we pot nearly to Harrogate. II was the cause ot a number of descents. From Harrogate to Xeweastle was merely a little promenade. The weather was delightful. The sympathetic welcome which we received from the people of Xewcastle—as, indeed, everywhere—helped us verv much. Between Xewcastle and Edinburgh difficulties increased. There were mists, air pockets and rain. To cross the Cheviots in rair was extremely disconcerting. I found myself 000 feet above the Tweed, and had to rely entirely upon the working of my motor. Had it stopped by any mischance my predicament would have been unfortunate.

After Edinburgh came the hardest section of the route. Tt bristled with difficulties. The wind blew in heavy gusts, and the rain poured down savagely. In that region of Scotland T understand that it rains on 300 days of the year. It might have let us pass on one of the other days, but we were not so fortunate as that. Between Edinburgh and Stirling jt blew so hard that our progress was seriously checked. Yedrines, who has a particularly fast machine. faster than mine, said that once or twice the gale brought him to a dead stop in the air. From Stirling to Paisley the rain never ceased, and rain is more worrying to the airman than other people can imagine. You can scarcely see through your goggles, and the landing-place seems to be nowhere.

After Carlisle came the severest task of the whole circuit. Both Vedrines and I broke down on this part of the route. One has only to look at the map. It is black with the marks of mountains. They are very grand, no doubt, but not an agreeable sight for an airman. Here, to my dismay, my motor began to work badly, and I went slowly against the strong wind with my weakening engine. Xear Lagdale Fell I found myself in a gorge little more than two hundred yards wide, with frowning mountains to the right and left of me. The wind blew me this way and that. T had to pay minute attention to my levers, for if the tip of one of my wings had touched I was done.

The only thing was to rise out of the gorge. With a defective motor that was far from easy. At last T rose to fiOO feet above the summit of the luills, still terribly blown about by the wind. At this moment, with no possible landingplace in sight, my motor stopped altogether. For five or six seconds no sound came from it. I began to fall. It was a sinister experience, for T had not the least idea where T could land. Just at the moment of peril mv motor started again, very feebly, it is true, but just enough to keep me going as far as Settle, where T sighted a large stretch of meadow land and there came down. The field in which I landed was a mile and a half from the town, and there was nobody in sight. "Mow," I thought, "all my chances are gone; T can never win the race." One should never despair. Tn that, unlikely place I found help. Before fifteen minutes had passed fully two hundred people were round my machine. and quite a clever young fellow came forward and helped me tn,remedy the defective ignition. Tt took us an hour and a half before the motor worked well enough to lift me into the air again. The motor still worked feebly, but I induced it to drag me as far as Manchester. The rain came again and I could scarcely find the landing-place. There

wnt tto white cross marked on the |ip * I mit b, great crowd of people. I i«re that muet be the place. I descended and found I was right. The generous welcome of the people encouraged me greatly after my tribulations. Vedrines came down just as I was leaving. The evening was delightful, no wind, no sign of rain, no more mists. I should have been perfectly happy if my motor had been all right, but it had suffered a great strain and it needed cleaning. Only by a tour de force could I manage to keep it going. Directly afterwards the clouds gathered beneath me, and it began to grow dark. Through the gloom I saw a flame which I took to be a signal fire on the landing-place. Alas, it was only a row of furnaces. I soon picked up the railway line and so in the end came to Bristol, and very glad indeed was I to see that famous city. Not only did my motor need cleaning, but also I had run out of petrol, for by mistake one of my tanks had been filled with the castor oil which we use for lubrication. I enjoyed a sweet sleep. In the morning I found the weather again delightful, a recomepnse for all its evil treatment. My motor had been thoroughly overhauled. It felt well and I felt well. I laughed and I sang. At Brighton I was slightly tired, perhaps because I have had no regular meals for three days l . But as soon as I started from Brighton for Brooklands the soft air revived me. The end of my journey was in sight. In a large measure I attribute my success to my familiarity with maps and with the compass.