The Belmont (New York) Meeting.

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 4, 1 February 1911, Page 537

The Belmont (New York) Meeting.

This meeting was marred by the dispute over Moisant’s win in the flight around the Liberty Statue. His death at Los Angeles gives a melancholy interest to the event. We glean the following regarding the matter from the American press “The prince of the power of the air seems to have been alive to his opportunity to sow dissension among the airmen. At any rate, a Satanic sequel to the international aviation meet at Belmont Park, Long Island, has been a crop of protests and charges which threatens civil war in the Aero Club of America, and moves one paragrapher to remark that birds in their little, nests agree better than birdmen competing for prizes. Let no one after this , say that the aeroplane is not destined to he an instrument of warfare,’- exclaims th e. New York : World, which . notes' that ever since the Belmont Park meet, ~ ‘rival forces of ,flying men have , been .ranged in hostile array at banquet , tables, and . about hotel lobbies.’ . . .. On October 30, which had been officially announced as the last day of the meet, three .. contestants, ..representing Prance, England, the United States, flew in a race from the aviation grounds around the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbour and back, a prize of £2OOO to go to the airman making the. best time. This face was won for the United States by. John B. Moisant. ; There the 1 incident would have ended had not the committee •in charge ■of the meet extended its original ■ programme

by arranging that certain events postponed because of bad weather on the opening day should be decided by flights on Monday, the 31st. It seems that the conditions of the Statue-of-Liberty race provided that each contestant could make the flight more than once during the meet, his best time to count. Therefore the English aviator, Claude Grahame-White, Moisant’s nearest competitor, applied for permission to try again on Monday, but was refused on the ground that the meet had officially closed with Sunday’s flights, those of Monday being exhibition performances. This ruling did not meet with the approval of a number of the airmen, and the dispute following it divided the flyers into two camps and brought to light a smoldering feud within the ranks of the Aero Club of America. ’ ’ Value of the Meeting. Whatever may be the merits of this controversy, says the New York Herald, “it can not change the fact that the international aviation tournament this year was the greatest ever held.” The same point is emphasised by the Springfield Republican, which goes on to say:— In general the most striking result of the tournament was its demonstration of the capacity of the aeroplane to stay aloft in bad weather. A 40-mile wind, such as was faced one day in a height contest, comes close to storm velocity, and would be dangerous to small sailing craft. Plying machines that can take such risks are not mere toys, and in war time would seldom be driven to shelter. “It is quite true that no air craft is yet able to make progress against a strong wind, but the aeroplane has in this respect greatly the advantage of the dirigible, and it is not impossible that with more powerful motors a speed of 80 miles or , more an hour will yet be. realised, which would make feasible a moderate progress against anything short of a hurricane. “Of the records made at Belmont Park the. most' important was the new altitude achieved by Johnstone in one of the new right machines. The ease with which he reached 9714 feet, a clear gain of 528 feet over the world’s best previous record, showed that the limit is still far from being reached. It is not long since the odd 528 feet would have been considered an astonishing feat, and talk of altitudes of .1000 feet was regarded as rash prophecy. “It is likely, in fact, that in war aeroplanes will be numerous and will take daring chances by flying low, just as in the past cavalry scouts have risked annihilation by riding close to the enemy. But the aerial scout of the future will have the great advantage that even if shot down in transit he will have sent his report by wireless up to the moment of disaster. It is a risk which in a great battle many a brave man would be glad to take.”

The "Aeroplane Portfolio" is a series of nine sheets of scale drawings of the Parman, Voisin, Santos Dumont, Wright, Curtiss, Bleriot, and other well-known aeroplanes, with a description of each. Each of the machines is shown in end view, plan, and elevation, and the drawings will be of value as well as of interest to all interested in aerial navigation.