Le Plein Air Number 161 November 8 1912
Front Cover : Maurice Bienaime

An Aero-Club de France meeting. In 1906 the first Gordon Bennett Race was held under the auspices of the Aéro-Club. These annual races were sponsored by the American newspaper tycoon, James Gordon Bennett Jr. (1841-1918) - the man who, in 1869, had sent Stanley into 'darkest Africa' in search of Dr.Livingstone. This was not the first competition Bennett had sponsored; there had already been Gordon Bennett streamboat, horse and motor races; and in 1908 Bennett would add aeroplanes to the list. All this did no harm to Bennett's newspaper sales, and meant that 'Gordon Bennett' became a household word. The rules of the 'Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett' were simple. The race would be won by the balloon which travelled the furthest distance from the starting point, and then next year's race would be held in the winner's home country. The inaugral race was held on 30 September 1906 from the Tuilleries Gardens in the centre of Paris, watched by a crowd of 200,000. It was won by an American balloon, crewed by Frank P. Lahm (pilot) and Henry Hersey (co-pilot). Their balloon had travelled 402 miles, in 22 hours and 15 minutes, from Paris to the north of England. By 1909 the race was so popular that 400,000 spectators turned out to see the balloons rise from the Tuilleries for a second time. In 1910 the race was held in St.Louis, Missouri, with the winners flying 1,173 miles to northern Quebec. It took the pilots four days to walk back to civilization. The third-placed team had to walk for ten days, eating berries and whatever else they could find on the way. The furthest distance flown was 1,361 miles in 1912, by the Frenchman Maurice Bienaimé. The longest duration was 73 hours set in 1908 by Swiss Colonel Schaeck, which was a world record for sports balloons. Forty-eight of his 73 hours were spent over the North Sea. This time stood unbeaten until 1995 when another Gordon Bennett team, led by Wilhelm Elmers from Germany, managed 92 hours (or almost 4 days) aloft.

Many illustrations.
In superb condition.

Full cataloging has not been completed