The San Francisco call., 1910-12-25
SEVEN AEROPLANES
SAIL shy At Once
Los Angeles Meet Replete With
Sensations and Thrills for
Spectators
Glenn Curtiss and Parmalee
Race About Field at Speed
of Gale

Dec 24.-Thrill after thrill rewarded
the huge crowd that forsook Christmas
festivities and shopping today to wit
ness the opening of the second annual
international aviation meet here. Spiral
glides from attitudes of 1000 feet or
more, dips that threatened the instant
death of the daring men who per-
formed them, an exciting race between
Glenn Curtiss and P. o. Parmalee of
the rival Wright team were some of
the features of the day.
Arch HoxSey of Pasadena, another
member of the Wright team, tried to
establish a new altitude record of H.
900 feet, but after climbing $3.50 feet
the cold forced him to descend. He
came down in corkscrew glides that
brought the crowd to its feet cheering.
Walter Brookins of Dayton, O.. also
thrilled the spectators by a 1000 feet
glide that brought him back to earth
with almost the speed of falling me-
teor. At times his planes were almost
vertical as he whirled downward, and
the crowd gasped when, within few
feet of the ground. he suddenly shifted
his planes and sent his flying machine
almost straight into the air again.
Glenn Curtiss bided his time until
Parmalee brought out his baby"
Wright. hailed as the fastest flyer in
the world, for a speed test. Then Cur
tiss hauled his own biplane, a so horse
power flyer, out of the hangar. Parma
lee was circling about the field with
the speed of gale, passing In turn
every one of five other machines in
the air at the time Curtiss ap-
peared. Curtfss made one circuit
around the Pylons at a speed compare
lively slow. Then he speeded up his
motor and just in front Of the grand
stand he went by the baby Wright like
sprlnter passing a toddling child.
Curtiss was unofficially timed at more
than SO miles an hour. The judges
caught Parmalee's time at 81 miles.
CROWD FRIGHTENED
James Radley, the English aviator,
gave the crowd more than one scare.
His machine performed erratically all
afternoon and in consequence he never
rose to height of more than so feet
even then the monoplane got beyond
nus control several times. Once all
those In the press boxes were forced
to duck" to save their heads as Rad
ley sped by at 40 miles an hour, not
more than five feet about them. Again
he flew low and his machine swerved
toward fence, but stopped within
Few inches of an iron paling
AT that, however, Radley proved his
machine to be the fastest on the field.
according to the time of the judges for
the five kilometer course For this
distance, Radley's time was 1850 S-5,
and Glenn Curtiss' 1853 fiat RadIey
also won the prize for quick starting
He rose from stand within distance
of 142 feet
Favorable weather conditions brought
out practically all the tried machines
on the field At one time there were
seven aeroplanes in the air, and the
av1ators. intent on stirring excitement
and thrilling the spectators, dipped and
ghded and frequently came so close
to each other that they were in emf
nent danger of collision.
Latham, who remained in the air
more than an hour in his Antoinnette
monoplane, was sailing serenly about
the field when Brookins. in a Wright
biplane, dived at him like a sparrow
hawk and swerved past the Frenchman
at a distance so short that from the
grandstand 1t looked as if he had
avoided a crash by few inches.
FAILS FOR PRIZE
Then Brockins dipped and glided
again, and In an attempt of spiral div
ing, rose to a height of probably 200
feet, and shot straight down to
point almost on the starting line where
he righted his biplane and gIided
SAdOOAuIy III oil attempt IOT a STOP
ping record. He could not halt his
machine within a hundred feet of the
starting line, and was beaten by Eu-
gene Ely of the Curtiss team, who won
the prize for the day by bringing his
biplane to a stop right on the line, and
within Is feet of the center of the
whitewash square. Seeing he had been
beaten in this stunt Brockins rose
again, assembled to height of probably
500 feet and then, locking his motor,
glided back to the starting line with
stilled propellers.
AS a, matter of aviation history, the
present meet is important. A COM
parison between the work done at the
first international meet here last jan
uary, and that of the present, virtually
marks the progress made in aviation
during the present year. Los Angeles
is virtually closing the chapter which
it commenced to write less than IL
months ago.
AT the first meet Louis Paulhan of
France, established a new altitude and
cross country flight record. Walter
BrookinS, who is participating in the
present meet, and, who in January last
had no thought of becoming an avia-
tor, was the first to break, Paulhans
altitude record, and then twice broke
his own. Paulhan's cross country
flight of 4S miles dwindles in com
parison with similar flights made later
in the year. That a great Improvement
has also been made on all varieties of
aeroplanes is evidenced by the fact
that the aviators today had much bet
ter control of their craft than at the
original. meet here, rose more readily,
continued flights at greater height, and
landed with better accuracy and pre-
cision.
Recommended for Navy
WASHINGTON. Dec. 24-Two aero
planes, or at least one two seated ma
chine, should constitute part of the
equipment of each of the scout cruis-
ers of the United States navy This
recommendation, as the initial step of
the government in the actual develop
ment of aerial navigation from the
standpoint of the navy is made in a
report to Secretary Meyer by Captain
Washington I. Chambers, who was
delegated by the secretary to study the
possibility of the aeroplane in warfare.
In pursuance of his mission, Captain
Chambers attended all of the important
aviation meets recently held in this
country and has kept in close touch
with the advances made abroad.
Whatever may be the results OBJ
tanned from the future development of
a m 11Sa m Ian