Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-18
LEAK IN GAS
TANK SPOILS
PAULHAN'S TRIP
AVIATOR UNABLE TO LOWER
HIS RECORD
FORCED TO ALIGHT AFTER MAX
ING FEW ROUNDS
Hamilton in Danger in Midair When
Rod in BipIane Breaks, but
He Descends Safely.
Thousands Cheer
tContinued from Page One,


the course, and around past the grand
stand. AS he passed the judges he
made a motion like grinding a coffee
mill with his hands, in token that he
would go round and round the course
The judges thought for a time that he
meant he would try only for speed
for ten laps, but when he had COM
pleted that number of circuits of the
course he kept on flying. Then they
knew he meant to continue in the air
as long as he could.
Prepared for Long Flight
In the big gasoline tank at Paul
hans back there was enough fuel for
Il flight of twelve hours at the rate of
forty miles an hour. Figure out for
yourself how far that flight would have
been had it not been for the tiny hole.
1t would have made Henri Farman,
builder of the biplane which Paulhan
piloted, sick with disappointment, for
Henri Farman was able to fly only 144
miles in four hours, SIX minutes ana
twenty-five seconds.
PauIhan had been in the air fifty
minutes when Hamilton decided he
would make an attempt for the endur-
ance record, following his announce
ment earlier in the day. SO then began
a pretty sight; two heaVier-thah-alr
machines driven by two of the most
daring drivers in the world, chaslng
each other round and found the
course of 1.61 miles.
Hamilton rose from in front of the
grandstand to the music OF DIXIE
mingled with cheers from the spectd-
tors He was separated from fdulhah
py half a mile or more, but twice Fttui-
nan passed him. Hamilton main
tanned an even gait of $40 for the
course. while Paulhan hit it up at
ability To DdSS
hamilton was due to superior horse
mower, nothing else. The Farman bl-
nIane has a Gnome engine with 10
norseDoWer. The Curtiss biplane mas
a Curtiss engine with 20 horsepower
Passed on Third Lap
If was on the third lap of Hamil-
toms Journey that Paulhan began, to
creep up closer and closer, closing the
a-ap betU cen the two machines by nun
-Ireds of feet every second. When
pauJhan was but a few feet to the
rear oC the. yellow bird he suddenly let
ont his engine, tilted his control and
snot up into the air fifty feet AS he
rounded the fourth pylon he fairly
leaped like greyhound over Hamll-
ION and shot ahead as though ne
feared he would be overtaken. Down
the home stretch he came with face
,vreathed in smiles, brought there by
the cheers of the crowd 100 feet below
him.
Again he took up the pursuit of the
yellow bird. He opened his throttle
wider and wider until the last Dit OF
rover was being forced out OF the en-
aite with every explosion of the cyl
inders He cut down the distance bit
I,y bit until after covering three laps
and a half he caught Hamilton just
Again he raised his aeroplane few
feet higher into the air and with
veil passed over the little driver below
The Curtiss machine rocked and
swaved and rolled like channel boat
in a heavy sea. Had any but master
aviator devoid of fear been in the III
lie seat Just in front of the engine he
would have been dashed to the earth.
But Hamilton weathered the windy
gale and passed safely around the
pylon.
Passage Is Dangerous
When one biplane passes over an
other, unless they be separated by
great space, the air current set in mo-
tion by the engine of the higher ma
chine has a tendency to throw the
lower one out of equilibrium. 1t also
retards progress, for it makes the en-
cine IN LDe lower IltClllllC w StllllOot
double work; first, in keeping the
lower craft afloat and second in dis
sipating the currents made by the
upper machine.
1t was while Paulhan was passing
Hamilton that c. f. Willard noticed
something was wrong with the CurtiSs
biplane. He leVeled his binoculars
upon the machine and discovered that
one side of one of the planes was
.n,,i1 10 n 40
attention of others when Hamilton
passed again in front of the judges
stand. Decision was made in a hurry |
and several men were sent out to flag
Hamilton to the ground. When Ham
ilton learned that he was in danger
of being dashed to pieces if he re-
mained longer in the air he glided to |
the earth. 1t was found on examina-
ton that one of the nuts in a rear
upright rod had loosened and that the
rod had worked out of it's fastenings. |
Might Have Meant Death
1t would have meant death to HAM
ilton had he remained in the air an
other ten minutes, for the biplane
would have been torn to bits by the
wind and the aviator hurled to the
ground had he been under Paulhan
when the Farman biplane passed over
him. Aviation is not without it's dan
gers at all times.
1t is barely possible that the air
currents set in motion by Paulhan
when he passed over Hamilton had
something to do with the accident. |
However that may be, Hamilton did
the wise thing in coming to the ground. |
He had covered 1888 miles and had
been in the air thirty-nine minutes.
He was prepared to stay up six hours.
Had he done SO he Would have won
$4,000.
Soon after Hamilton came to earth
Paulhan signaled to some of his
mechanicians that all was not right.
A faint odor of gasoline had been no.
ticed each time he passed He scared
low past the grandstand once or twice
and the odor was easily noticeable to
those in the press boxes.
A hole had developed in the tube
leading from the gasoline tank to the
engine. When once Paulhan learned
of the trouble and knew that he could
not remain in the air very much longer
because of the constant drain on his
fuel supply, he made few more cir
cults and then came to earth a few
feet west of the starting line. He was
cheered to the echo as he jumped out
of his machine and examined the
leaky parts.
Forty-seven Laps for Paulhan
Paulhan made AZ laps. distance of
N63 miles, in one hour IS minutes and