The Boy's Book of New InventionsMaule, Harry E. (Harry Edward)
History
The Boy's Book of New Inventions
Maule, Harry E. (Harry Edward)
Inventions
No less dangerous was Glenn Curtiss's trip from Albany to New York
in his biplane, by which he won the $10,000 prize offered by the New
York _World_. Most of his route lay over wooded hills, the waters of
the Hudson River, or the cliffs along its banks, which territory,
as any one who has travelled from New York to Albany knows, offers
few landing places. Starting with a letter from the Mayor of Albany
to the Mayor of New York and followed by a special train on the New
York Central he made Camelot, 41 miles from Albany, in about an hour.
The next jump was clear to Spuyten Duyvil, the northern boundary of
Manhattan, which completed the required 128 miles in a total elapsed
time of 2 hours and 32 minutes. His average speed was 50-1/2 miles an
hour.
This stage of the journey nearly brought serious disaster to the
aviator, for, while passing the famous old mountain Storm King, he
was caught by a terrific gust of wind and his machine was twisted
sideways so that it dropped suddenly toward the river. By skilful
manipulation he righted his biplane and continued.
After a brief pause at Spuyten Duyvil he sailed down the Hudson River
and the upper New York Bay to Governor's Island. Every whistle in
the harbour, a few million people and the reporters representing
the newspaper readers of the whole civilized world, proclaimed his
victory over the wind gusts eddying around the palisades and the New
York skyscrapers.
In the United States there were many aviators besides Curtiss who
were making an effort to win long distance prizes. The New York
_Times_ and the Philadelphia _Ledger_ had offered a large purse,
supposed to be $10,000, for the first flight from New York to
Philadelphia, and on June 13th, a few days after Glenn Curtiss's
flight from Albany to New York, Charles K. Hamilton, another young
man new to aviation, sailed in his Curtiss biplane the 86 miles from
Governor's Island to Philadelphia in 1 hour and 43 minutes, and
returned the same day. His average speed was 50-1/2 miles an hour,
the same maintained by Curtiss in his Albany-New York trip. These two
flights added tremendously to the fame of the Curtiss machines.
The great International Aviation Tournament of 1910, held at Belmont
Park in October, was the climax of the season in this country. Of
course interest centred around the race for the James Gordon Bennett
Cup and prize of $5,000, which had been won the year before at Rheims
by Curtiss. The total prizes amounted to $60,000 and practically
every standard make of aeroplane was represented. The American
aviators came into prominence at this meet, as will be remembered
by the feats of Walter Brookins, Arch. Hoxsey, Ralph Johnstone, J.
A. Drexel and a dozen others. The English contingent was led by
Claude Grahame-White, who had been making himself famous at the
Harvard-Boston meet. Of the Frenchmen, Alfred LeBlanc, Hubert Latham,
Emiel Aubrun and Count de Lesseps were among the leaders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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