New-York tribune., 1910-05-25
PRIMARY MEN HOPEFUL WILL AUGHT At BATTERY
Curtiss Plans Flight from Albany
with Stop at PoughkeepSie.
STARTS TOMORROW AT 4A.M
Ambitious Aviator Expects to
Avoid Skyscrapers and to
Win $4,000 Prize.

Glenn III. Curtiss will attempt on
Thursday the most ambitious flight over
the water that has ever yet been es-
sayed in an aeroplane- Under the terms
of competition offered by THE New
York World" he will try to fly from AL
bany to New York City with one stop,
although two stops are allowed.
For the last six months Curtiss has
been manpuvring for the prize of S1O,-
600 for flight from New York to AL
bany or reverse, with one stop. Re
Gently he has been conducting expert
ments to determine the ability of his
latest model to alight on the water and
float without upsetting. These tests are
in themselves remarkable, for although
other aviators have alighted i'll the
water it has never been by design
Without alright compartments neces-
sary to sustain the aeroplane upon the
water Curtiss believes that he could fly
from Albany to New York in one lap.
Will Stop at Poughkeepsie.
Curtiss will start from Rensselaer,
Island, below the bridges across the
Hudson at Albany, about 4 o'clock on
Thursday morning, if weather condi-
tions are favorable He expects to
break his flight somewhere in the neigh
will weigh LOCO pounds, including the
weight of the pilot, 145 pounds. 1t was
originally desired to start from New
York. but the reports of the Weather
Bureau show that northerly winds make
up % per cent of all airs that blow
from the ten points of the compass.
The distance by rail is 142 miles, but
by water it is estimated by river cap
tains that, allowing for cutoffs which
Curtiss will make across bends of the
river, $50 miles will be a more accurate
measurement. The longest 'cross-coun-
try flight officially recorded is 125 miles,
made by Paulhan on April 49, 1910. from
Orleans to Arcis-sur-Aube In his in
terrupted flight from London to Man.
chester Paulhan flew from Litchfield to
Manchester, in the second leg of his
journey, 141 miles. The total distance
from London to Manchester is 1856 miles,
of which Paulhan flew 40 miles in the
first leg.
Henri Farman flew 1862 miles for
the Michelin trophy, at Chalons, France,
on November g. 1909, and was aloft four
hours, six minutes and twenty-five sec
onds. Curtiss now holds the interna-
tional record for speed, which he won at
the international aviation meet last sum-
mer at Rheims, France. Since then he
has also established new records for
quick starting and short starting.
Expects to Land at Battery.
The machine which he will use in his
present attempt carries an eight-cylin-
der motor, developing 30 horsepower
The spread of surface of his machine.
Curtiss says, is less than one-half of
any other biplane now in use.
New York, with its forest Of skyscrap-
ers and hustle of harbor traffic, is one of
the most difficult spots for an aviator to
land in Curtiss has announced that he
will attempt to descend at the Battery,
on the extreme southernmost point of
Manhattan Island. If he starts his
fight early in the morning and stops for
gasolene in the neighborhood of Pough-
keepsie, he should finish In the after
noon of the same day. If he begins at
night and stops before dark at Pough-
keepsie he will not resume until the next