The San Francisco call., 1910-01-26
AERIAL RUNAWAY
THRILLS CROWD
AT TANFORAN
Wind Sweeps BipIane Far to
South During the Daring
Exhibition
PauIhan Masters Adverse Cur
rents and Flies Back to
Starting Point
By RUFUS STEELE

A-9uls fduLuan IS the HlBHtteSl Ol
rough riders upon the new steed bred
Of mans brain. At dinner time last
night he drove his winged horse u
miles through the flaming sky and, if
I can trust the testimony of my eyes
n a zone so unfamiliar, peerless Paul
han was. a good half the time, at the
mercy Of his mount. The biplane
Ducked and ourvetted and once at least,
when going with the speed of the devil.
It refused the air path into which the
rider attempted to head il and sped in a
vast circle far outside the anticipated
course. In the opinion of many men
the throng of spectators at Tanforan
rltnessed d runaway In the solitude of
the ether
Paulhan, coming about above the
eucalyptus tops at the southern end of
The field. essayed to race northward
over the crowd. The biplane baked at
the sharpness of the turn, swerved and
came on good quarter of a mile be-
hind the grandstand. Paulhan ap-
pesred 10 save his life by letting his
Steed have its head.
This flying machine from Paris is
not easily acclimated. Our January
weather has gone 10 its brain. Our
ozone zephyrs make il tipsy, and
a. tipsy aerOplsne faces an almost
certain downfall. No one knows
this half so well as Louis Paul
han. The short. wobbly flights which
he made yesterday and Monday before
the wind died down bespeak his mar
velous courage and his firm resolve to
keep faith with the crowd. If Tapping
banners and swaying tree tops are re-
liable witnesses, then he made his long
flight of yesterday evening in
stronger wind than he braved in his
master fight Of the previous day. And
the machine showed greater defiance
by the wind for every mile Of the way
PAULHAN WATCHES WEATHER
Every few minutes after , o'clock
Psulhan came 10 the front of the pad
dock shed and observed the weather
Nine Paulhan. sitting on a stool beside
q bench where the mechanicians were
at work. kept 4 close eye upon her lord
After each discoura ging inspection Of
wind conditions Paulhan turned toward
the bebadged persons who were priv
ileged 10 spy upon greatness in its lair
and shrugged his shoulders. The shoul-
ders spoke better English than their
owner They said very plainly I'D
like TO come out now and fly for you
anyhow. but the lady in lavender won't
let me
At 4-2O o'clock. the wind having
abated considerably, the Farman BIZ 1
plane rolled out to the infeld to the 4
music OF human cheers. During the /
next hour two flights which ended with |
quick descent showed that the air |
was stil lashed by invisible waves !
Aeolus had set what sailors call fish |
\ tail breeze TO guard the air for uses
sf his own
II was upon the third trial, starting
from the north end Of the field. that
Paulhan found his keel even enough
n "a raj fGfr af ef7ov
OF his forward plane. The crowd has
learned 10 watch that plane and it's
sudden movement brought a burst of
cheers that signified their understand
ing While the aviator was rising and /
moving down the field the machine ap-
peared 10 leap over unseen logs. and |
when a horse does that he is bucking
The wind fought the machine hard /
as Paulhan turned eastward, and it was
when he tried TO turn northward and /
come over the crowd that the biplane |
leaped and swerVed. Continuing ont |
beyond the railroad tracks the machine /
passed toward Colma, turned westward |
and, as on the previous day, came south |
on an air track along the line of the |
hills Paulhan was a mile away and |
perhaps 500 feet above the ground when |
he passed the grandstand. He swept
over the trees and disappeared COM |
pletely in the direction Of San Jose
CROWD Is APPREHENsIVE
For six minutes-six hours it seemed |
when measured in the sand glass of the /
crowds nerves-nan and machine were /
lost Had Paulhan fallen into a re- 4
mote hOllOw2 Had the wind Iured his |
runaway chariot into the low hanging
clouds to sacrifice him there? The
crowd was puzzled and dumb at this |
brand new sort Of hide and seek and |
strangely apprehensive while the avia
tor was lost from the thin support of its /
gaze.
out OF the southern sky he came
home like conquerer. Somehow il was
not until then that the speed with
which this man flies was driven home
10 the mind. When cheer went up
from those who spied it first the ma
chine had the seeming size Of dove
In q trice il grew TO a goose. then into
q condor, next into its actual might
ness that has no brother in the feath-
red flock. Above the trees the nova
lie planes were tipped and the bipIane
shot toward the ground Within so
feet Of the earth and sure of destruc-
tion the planes tilted again. The ma
chine came to an even keel once more
and on the instant the motor was shut
of. Down foated the birdman TO an
alighting that would not have frac-
tured a soap bubble. Mounted deputy
sherins walled the aviater from the
roaring crowd that threatened to de-
your him as he trotted off to his wife.
Ii is the prayer of the birdmen that
the wind will cease altogether today so
that they can bring out that huge
hOrseay that they call Bleriot mono
plane, from its roOst in the shed