Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-29
ALMOST MILE A
MINUTE IS MADE
RadIey Covers Course of Eight
and Three-Fourths Miles in
9 Minutes, 13 Seconds
EVENT PROVES A THRILLER
EngIishman Comes Up from Be-
hind and Finishes First in
a PeriIous Race
EVENT PROVES A THRILLER
CONTINUED from Page One,

derby"
There was not handful of ell that
crowd too tired to stay. Almost every
man and woman returned to his or her
seat and all eyes We're trained on the
course where the aerial ponies were
being harnessed for the race.
Curtiss, the owner OF the great string
known far and WIDE, was superintend-
ing the rubbing down of his speedlest
steed. Ely, who was to be trusted
with the mount, donned his jockey at
tire Ind stayed close by to see that all
went well.
Roy Knabonshue, manager of the
Baby as though II were a thing
precious. Phil Pe-.helee examined the
plus of the chuggins infant and said
the heart action was good. Reaching
up above and examining the chest Of
the vibrating steed, he found there
provisions enough to feed it for a long
and hard flight.
Radley and two men from his stable
pulled the Bleriot dragon across the
field and lined him up at the barrier.
Though frothing at the bit from pre-
vious run. the thing" stayed well at
the post until the starter gave the sig
nal. Radley had kept his monster on
adge all day and needed little pre-
paration for the run.
With the firing of a gun from the
judges stand, the caretakers went to
the rear, the propelers made a buzz
ing sound like wonderful bees, the mo-
tors chugged like rapid fire artillery
and in a cloud of dust the field was
off.
The judges had directed the aviators
to fly in the opposite direction from the
course, out to the north end of the
stand, turn and come in across the
line.
They were to come as nearly togeth-
er as posS Die, but together or not it
was to be race, the man making the
best time for five laps of the course
being tne winner.
Ely made the shortest turn and was
the first to come back and cross the
line, Parmelee was second, half a
length of the course behind and Rad
ley, who had made a wide turn at the
upper stretch, was last.
Being last. he had the strategical
advantage of flying near the ground,
where the best speed is obtainable.
AS he shot over the line, his engine
and propeller droning a strange song,
the crowd cheered and the prettiest,
most fantastic and extraordinary race
of the age was on.
II Radley finished without accident
1t was evident from the beginning that
1t was not to be Won without a hard
tussle with Ely, who pulled out like
a soldier.
"BABY" MAY YET BE HEARD FROM
1t was also seen that Parn1elee in
the famous Baby" Wright was out
classed, though not so badly, when
horse power was taken into considera-
ton.
Radley operated a sixty horse power
motor in his Bleriot, Ely used Il fifty
to sixty in his Curtiss, Parmelee used
only a thirty in the Baby" But
nevertheless he ran a game race.
He had counted on the lightness of his
craft and the reduced size of the
planes to give him a look-in on the
race.
Ely had increased his lead over Par
melee on the first lap of the course
and on the second he was more than
the two pylons lengthwise of the field
ahead Parmelee made d sudden burst
of speed going with the wind and
made up; Ely lost q little time on the
first turns, but clipping the pylons
closer he continued to gain on the
third lap.
The great dragonfly of Radley never
wavered the height of a yardstick
above the ground around the course.
The second lap saw him creeping up
slowly on Parmelee and on the third
lap the crowd in the stand saw the
most spectacular feature of the derby
when Radley noked his nose under the
Parmelee craft and edged his way into
second place.
The Englishman continued t. gain
on Ely, but the latter had too good a
start to be overt AIKEN. On the fifth
lap Ely opened his lever wide and
whizZed over the course in the best
time made during the present meet by
a Curtiss machine, doing the ia miles
in :5S 3-5.
Radley was but half length of the
crossed the wire.
IN less than a minute the megaphon-
ers announced Radley as the winner
of the first aerial derby, which carries
with it $4,000 purse.
II thought I'd take it. don't you
know" said Radley, "but l didn't
know how fast the bloomin' Curtiss
craft would 60"
In making this observation Radley
was referring to the fact that Curtiss
had stripped about fifty feet of plane
surface from Ely's machine for the
race.
AS it entered the contest it was 1917
feet long. or Az feet shorter than the
baby Wright craft. The derby, being
distinct in itself, also witnessed the
introduction of the smallest aeroplane
that has been used in competition.
Curtiss has designed in this craft what
he believes will be a speed marvel
Yesterdays race alone shows it 70 be
capable of from fifty to sixty miles an
hour and with handling even more
may be got from it.
The Baby Wright has been
eolinped for speed trials with planes