ANOTHER AEROPLANE RECORD.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9639, 3 November 1909, Page 4

ANOTHER AEROPLANE RECORD.

The most notable performance uf Mr Latham, the aeroplanist, at Blackpool, in England, marks a distinct advance over anything hitherto accomplished with a heavier than-air flying machine. To soar aloft in a gale of wind blowing with a velocity of ;40 miles an hour denotes skill and courage of an unusual kind, aod that the Antoinette aeroplane preserved its stability under such trying conditions is a very good proof that its value for practical everv day work is assured. *!r Latham, according to the cable message, travelled at a speed of five miles an hour in the teeth of the wind, and rushed along at the appalling rate of 90 miles an hour v ith a ale in his favour. The dirigible airship that would ascend in a4O mile an hour gale would risk immediate destruction;, and if Mr Latham has demonstrated that the aeroplane can act in weather which the dirigible cannot face he has con' tributed a solii argument to the important discussion as to the comparative value of th° two types for war purposes. With a soitherly gale blowing 40 miles an hour a fleet of aeroplanes coul t cross the Channel from France to England in about 12 minutes. And with an easterly gale of the same velocity an aerial fleet could cross the Nurth Sea, say, from Wilhei nshaven to Sheerness, in a little over four hours.