Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne
The Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne was an 8-day aviation meeting held near Reims in France in 1909, so-named because it was sponsored by the major local champagne growers. It is celebrated as the first international public flying event, confirming the viability of heavier-than-air flight.
It marked the first contest for the prestigious
Grande Semaine de la Champagne
The Grand Semaine d'Aviation, held between 22 August and 29 August 1909, was sponsored by many of the leading makers of
A rectangular competition course of 10 km (6.2 mi), marked by four pylons was set up for the various competitions, with the strip intended for taking off and landing in front of the grandstands, opposite which was the timekeepers hut, provided with a signalling system to indicate to the spectators which event was being competed for. Flying conditions were primitive: the area over which much of the flying was to take place was farmland: some of the crops under cultivation had not been harvested and where this had been done there were
Events
- Sunday 22 August — Contest to decide the French team for the Gordon-Bennett Trophy; Prix de la Vitesse, (day 1); Prix du Tour de Piste, (day 1); Prix des Aeronauts, (day 1).
- Monday 23 August — Grand Prix de la Champagne (day 1); Prix du Tour de Piste (day 2); Prix des Aeronauts (day 2) .
- Tuesday 24 August — Grand Prix de la Vitesse (day 2) ; Prix du Tour de Piste, (day 3); Prix des Aeronauts (day 3).
- Wednesday 25 August — Grand Prix de la Champagne (day 2); Prix du Tour de Piste, (day 4); Prix des Aeronauts (day 4).
- Thursday 26 August — Grand Prix de la Champagne (day 3) ; Prix du Tour de Piste, (day 5); Prix des Aeronauts (day 5); Landing competition for spherical balloons.
- Friday 27 August — Grand Prix de la Champagne (day 4); Prix du Tour de Piste (day 6); Prix des Aeronauts (day 6).
- Saturday 28 August — Coupe Internationale d'Aviation Gordon-Bennett; Prix des Passagers (day 1); Prix du Tour de Piste (day 7); Prix des Aeronauts (day 7).
- Sunday 29 August — Prix de la Vitesse (day 3); Prix des Passagers (day 2); Prix de l'Altitude; Prix du Tour de Piste (day 8); Prix des Aeronauts (day 8)
The Gordon Bennett Trophy
This was the most prestigious event of the meeting, and was a competition between national teams, sponsored by
Grand Prix de Champagne et la Ville de Reims
This was a distance prize offering six prizes of 50,000, 25,000, 10,000, 5,000, 5,000, and 5,000 francs.
Farman had replaced the Vivinus engine of his aircraft, which was proving unreliable, with a Gnome Omega rotary engine just before the flight. Since the published rules of competition forbade any changes to the aircraft, his victory was contested by Latham and Léon Levavasseur, the designer of the Antoinette aircraft and engine, but the change had been officially approved before the flight, and their complaint was not successful. The Reims meeting was the public debut of the Gnome engine, and although probably unappreciated by the majority of the spectators, this was one of the most significant events to take place at the Rheims meeting. The Gnome, designed and manufactured by the Seguin brothers, was both light in weight and relatively reliable, and was a major advance in aviation technology: Louis Blériot later saying "it enabled the industry to advance by leaps and bounds"[13] Three other aircraft were flown using this engine at Reims, the others being the Farman biplanes belonging to Cockburn and Roger Sommer and the Voisin belonging to Louis Paulhan[14]
Grand Prix de la Vitesse
Offering four prizes of 10,000, 5,000, 3,000 and 2,000 francs, for the fastest time over three laps of the circuit. The final attempts for this were held on the last day, and after Curtiss' narrow victory over Blériot spectators were expecting an exciting duel. However, Blériot had a spectacular accident: his aircraft crashed and caught fire, and was destroyed: the prize went to Curtiss.
Prix des Passagers
A single prize of 10,000 francs, given to the aviator who carried the greatest number of passengers over one lap of the course: in the event of two contestant carrying the same number of passengers the prize going to the fastest. Won by Farman, the only pilot to carry two passengers.
Prix de l'Altitude
(Height Prize) of 10,000 francs. Won by Hubert Latham flying an Antoinette VII with an altitude of 155 m (509 ft)
Prix du Tour de Piste
(Circuit Prize), of 7,000 and 3,000 francs. for the fastest single lap. Won by Louis Blériot, flying his Type XII monoplane, with a speed of 76.95 km/h (47.8 mph).
Prix des Aéronats
A speed trial over five laps for
Flyers and aircraft
38 aircraft were entered for the event, but in the end only 23 actually flew, representing nine different types. 87 flights of more than 5 km (3.1 mi) were made [15] The type which was best represented was the Voisin biplane, of which there were seven examples flown. This reflects Gabriel Voisin's position as the first manufacturer to achieve widespread sales of an aircraft, but by this time his design was obsolescent, the only notable achievement being Louis Paulhan's third place in the distance competition. Significantly, Paulhan's aircraft was fitted with a Gnome engine. The meeting effectively demonstrated the practicality of heavier than air aviation: it was evident that the major problem was the unreliability of the engines being used. Many previous notable aviation feats, such as Louis Blériot's recent crossing of the English Channel, had been made near the times of sunrise or sunset, when the air is often very still. In contrast, competition flying at Reims did not start until ten in the morning and ended at half past seven, and although high winds did cause the black flags signalling 'no flying' to be hoisted on occasion, all days saw some flying.
The destruction by fire of Louis Blériot's aircraft on the last day was the most spectacular accident to occur during the meeting, and Blériot had been involved in another accident earlier in the week while practising for the passenger carrying event, when he had to make an emergency landing due to engine trouble, Unfortunately there was a troop of
References
- ISBN 0 19516035 5.
- ^ "Conversion by Sight" Flight 28 August 1909 p.516 "Throughout the past week the greatest object-lesson and the most convincing that has been afforded yet concerning the achievement of mechanical flight has been in almost continuous progress at Rheims"
- ISBN 1 9007 4752 9.
- ^ Hallion 2003
- ^ "The Success of the Meeting". The Times. No. 39037. London. 13 August 1909. p. 7,col.2.
- ^ Cash Receipts at Rheims'Flight 11 September 1911
- ISBN 0 7524 1739 8.
- ^ "The Rheims Aviation Week". The Times. No. 39044. London. 21 August 1909. p. 6.
- ^ "Rheims Aviation Week: The First Day" Flight 28 August 1909 p519
- ^ "Tabulated Performances &c of the Rheims Meeting" Flight 4 September 1909 p.53
- ^ "Rheims Aviation Week" Flight 14 August 1909 p492
- ^ "Aviation at Rheims". The Times. London. 28 August 1909. p. 8.
- ISBN 0 19 516035 5.
- ^ "Rheims Aviation Meeting — Table of General Details of the Entered Machines" Flight 28 August 1909 p.521
- ISBN 1 9007 4752 9.
- ^ Wednesday' RacingFlight 28 August 1909