FLYING RECORDS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12816, 16 July 1912, Page 2

FLYING RECORDS.

VEDBTNES IN THE AIR AGAIN

(Press Assn.— By Telegraph.— Copyright.) PARIS, July 15. M. Vedrines, the aviator,, at Itheims, m a De Perdussin monoplane, covered 125 miles m lhr 10m hi 50sec. Less than three months ago while M. J. Vedrines was attempting a flight from Douai, m France, to Madrid, his machine was caught by a. sudden gust of wind, and to recover himself he volplaned 600 feet. In attempting to avoid some telgraph wires the machine crashed to the ground and' fell m front of a train, which was stopped with difficulty. Vedrine's skull was at first thought to be fractured, and he was considered to be m a critical condition. ' By flying 125 miles m one and a quarter, hours at Pau, on February 29, M. Vedrines created not only a record m aviation, but beat all speed records attained hitherto on any class of mechanical contrivance. Never before has a speed of a hundred miles per hour been maintained for more than . a lew minutes',; although a ! speed of over 140 miles per hour has been accomplished by 'a motor-car for a short distance. "Ji few of the official records for terrestrial motor vehicles are shown, here .:— l, mile m 25.405ec., by Burnam, at Florida, 1911, 141^ miles per hour ; 10 miles m smin 14.25 ec ,: by Brown, at Florida, 1909, 114 miles per hour ; 15 miles m lOmin, by Lancia, at Florida, 1906, 90 mile's per hour.' , , . , '' Motor cycle ' records are not equal to Ihe above. Railway speeds, of course, do J not", approach tJbem, the, greatest being about eighty miles per hour for short distances. The- fastest regular run m Great Britain is the forty-four and a half miles between Darlington and York at an average speed of 61.7 miles per hour. For homing pigeons, teal and other birds enormous speeds have been claimed, but the difficulty of accurate allowance for a helping wind is very great, and it is not likely that any bird attains an' independent speed of more than seventy or eighty miles per hour. .The conditions 'under which M. Vedrines flew 'on his Deperdussin monoplane, driven by a 140 li.p. engine, are not Stated, and, of . course^ the record is not Vet officially accepted; The same aViatoV, last June, assisted 'by a strong follow-, jiiig wind; attained ii speed of 150 miles' jper hour. ' l ;

I Previous -records m flying made- m a 'closed circuit, and, therefore, independent of wind, 'are "as ,■ follow :— January £6th, 1912.— M. Bathiat '{Somrher mbnoIplane), 120 kildmetoesi 'Ha 49min 58sec jfabont 90 ' miles per hour); January 13th, j1912, M. Vedrines (Deperdussin monp;plane), 100 kilometres m 41min 39 4-ssee !(about 89 miles per. hour-)