Santos Dumont rounds the Eiffel Tower (1901)

#aviation #airplane #racing PARIS, Oct. 19. 1901 —The Santos-Dumont airship ascended at Saint-Cloud at 2:32 o'clock this afternoon, and five minutes afterward began to round the Eiffel Tower. Santos-Dumont completed his trip successfully, but a question arose as to whether it was done within the time limit. M. Deutsch, who offered the prize, said the aeronaut won. The committee, however, declared that M. Santos-Dumont took 30 minutes 40 4-7 seconds to make the trip. M. Deutsch offered a prize of 100,000 francs for any machine that would make the trip from Saint-Cloud to and around the Eiffel Tower and back within thirty minutes. Santos-Dumont started for the first time at 2:20, but on leaving the park, his guide rope caught in a tree and he was obliged to descend. He started again at 2:42 P. M., rose 250 yards, and then pointed for the Eiffel Tower, the balloon going in a straight line. it was seen, through field-glasses, to arrive at the tower and round it. The time, up to that point, with the wind in the balloon's favor, was 8 minutes and 45 seconds. It returned against the wind and made slower headway, but still kept in the true direction for Saint-Cloud, which it reached in the total time of 29 minutes 15 seconds. But, instead of descending immediately, Santos-Dumont made a broad sweep over the Aero-Club grounds, with the result that another minute and 25 seconds were consumed before the workmen seized the guide rope. Thus, technically, Santos-Dumont exceeded the time limit by 40 seconds. The enormous crowd which had gathered inside and outside the grounds gave the aeronaut a tremendous ovation. As his basket came within speaking distance, Santos-Dumont leaned over the side and asked: "Have I won the prize?" YOUTUBE CHANNELS COOKING WITH BENOIT :    / @cookingwithbenoit   TRAVEL J'ADORE :    / @traveljadore   WEB TRAVEL J'ADORE : https://www.traveljadore.com/