Reims Air Meet
| Event names | Reims Air Meet, La Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne |
|---|---|
| Event type | exhibition |
| Country | FR |
| Locations | Betheny, 3 miles north of Reims |
| Start date | August 22, 1909 |
| Number of days | 8 |
| Tech focus | Airplane |
| Participants |
profit estimated at $60K ; 23 planes flew, many more than 5km ; GS lists some of their types ; no Wrights ; only G Cockburn is from Britain ; but attending include Blériot, Delagrange, Farman, Ferber, Lambert, Hubert Latham, Levavasseur, Louis Paulhan & Glenn Curtiss ;
Newly-organized Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy race won by Curtiss, flying the "Rheims Racer, with chopped wings and Curtiss 50-horsepower, water-cooled V-8 engine". Curtiss also won the Prix de Vitesse distance of 30 km in 23 minutes and 29 seconds—a new world record.
Paulhan flew for 2¾ hours without lateral rudders or ailerons, thereby (unintentionally?) demonstrating the viability of Henson's 1842 system, which had most features which later emerged, except rudders for roll.[1]
Farman won 50,000 francs
Emphasis on international aspect: "A special charm of the tournament was that each fortunate entrant should meet the distinguished aviators from all localities, and should fly in the presence of a world-gathering."[2]
Backers, including the Marquis de Polignac and wine merchants of Champagne, considered the meet a success.[3]
Sources
- Aeroplane gossip. Washington Post Jan 1910
- Gibbs-Smith, Charles. 1970. Aviation: an historical survey from its origins to the end of World War II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, p157
- Chronicle of Aviation p72
- Pauley, 2009, p. 9–19
- ↑ Zahm, 1944, pp. 328–329. "Henson provided for rudder moments in pitch and yaw, but not in roll. He omitted lateral rudders, or ailerons. Yet early pioneers flew well in many parts of Europe, using Henson elements alone. At the Rheims contest, in 1909, Paulhan circled high aloft for 2¾ hours in gusty air without torsion-wing mechanism. This useful organ was found unnecessary for exhibition flights. Advantageous it might be, but essential to pioneer flight no, absolutely. Fixed vertical fins, Henson-like, steadied their craft in roll and yaw."
- ↑ Zahm, 1911, Aerial Navigation, p. 292.
- ↑ Zahm, 1911, Aerial Navigation, p. 301.
Links
- "Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne" Wikipedia article; Grande Semaine d'aviation de la Champagne on Wikipédia
- Reims Air Meet - U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission
