Antwerp, Belgium, October 23rd - November 2nd 1909
The last meeting of 1909: Autumn weather in Flanders
In 1909 Antwerpen (Antwerp in English, Anvers in French) was
Belgium's second biggest town, with a population of around 280,000.
It was a cultural and industrial centre and its harbour on the river
Schelde was the second biggest on the continent, after Hamburg's.
It was also a strongly fortified town, with several circles of forts
and walls surrounding the parts of the town that didn't face the
river.
The Aero Club of Antwerp was formed on March 8th, 1909. One of the
driving forces behind it was Baron Pierre de Caters, Belgium's
first pilot and an experienced racer of automobiles and speed-boats. It
soon started planning an aviation meeting, which was to be held in the
beginning of October and beginning of November, thus being the last
competitive meeting of the 1909 season. Partners in the arrangement
were the Antwerp Automobile Club and "Antwerpen-Vooruit"
("Anvers en Avant"), a society for the promotion of the town.
Prince Albert of Belgium, who would become king when Leopold II died
later in the year, served as honorary president of the organizing
committee.
It was decided to hold the meeting on the Wilrijkse Plein, a military
exercise field south of the city, immediately outside the fortified
city walls, which was also used for horse racing. Law and order would
be ensured by 100 gendarmes, of which 24 mounted. The airfield would be
in constant contact with the Antwerp cathedral, so that people in the
centre of the town could be informed whether flying was going by red,
black or white flags flown from the tower.
The town of Antwerp donated 60,000 francs for the Grand Prix and a list
of fourteen entrants was published. It contained some local hopefuls,
but also some experienced flyers, such as Voisin pilots Henri Rougier,
Baron Pierre de Caters and Henri Brégi, and Léon Molon on a Blériot. It
was the competitive debut of Jan Olieslagers, who would become one of
Belgium's most famous aces of World War One. Another attraction
would be Count Henri de la Vaulx and his airship "Zodiac
III".
Focus of the reporting of the meeting was of course on the popular
home-town favourite de Caters, who returned from successful meetings in
Berlin and Frankfurt. He had a troubled start of the meeting, though,
and couldn't finish his preparations until the last minutes. His
plane, which was transported from the Frankfurt meeting, was despite
his protests held up for three days by the Belgian customs officials,
and a new engine was also stuck in transport.
Saturday October 23rd
Wind and rain made flying impossible for most of the opening day, but
de Caters made a short flight at around five o'clock. He flew some
600 metres at altitudes of 4-5 metres, to the applause of the crowds,
who finally got something in return for their waiting even though the
flight was cut short by the gusty wind. De Caters was not pleased and
decided to make another flight. This quickly ended in tears when the
plane was caught by a gust. One of its wings was raised by the wind,
"like a sign of distress", before the plane crashed to the
ground. Officials were rushed to the accident site by cars and two
doctors arrived in gallop. Thankfully de Caters had escaped with only a
cut nose when the plane flipped inverted. He was found standing by the
wreckage, lighting a cigarette and contemplating the damages. Mr de
Vos, the Mayor of Antwerp, congratulated him and expressed his pleasure
that it was an Antwerpian who had made the flight in Antwerp. "The
first crash too", de Caters replied, tongue firmly in cheek… He
had a spare machine, so he was not out of the meeting.
Sunday 24 October
This was another rainy day, and in the morning winds of storm force
damaged four hangars at the end of the field. In one of them the plane
of the Druet brothers was badly damaged. The other four hangars were
saved because de Caters and his crew, who were there in order to repair
his wrecked plane, saw what was going on and could tie down the
tarpaulins that covered the hangars before help could arrive. A
cafeteria and some fencing was also destroyed. Workmen and engineer
troops were called in to make necessary repairs and clean up the
wreckage, and the hangars were rebuilt by the Tuesday. The only action
on the field was a couple of ground tests by Olieslagers towards the
end of the day, when the weather improved slightly.
Monday 25 October
There wasn't much to cheer for, since this was another windy and
rainy day, particularly in the late afternoon. Wilford made a bad start
in his Wright and damaged a propeller and a wing. Olieslagers made a
flight of 100 metres and managed to make a turn. The "Zodiac
III" made some short test flights without leaving the
airfield.
Tuesday 26 October
The fourth day of the meeting started well with some sunshine and light
winds, but towards eleven o'clock it got windier again. Olieslagers
made a flight, but was caught by a gust and hit a tree stump which had
been missed when the field was prepared. His plane was badly damaged.
The winds kept getting stronger during the afternoon. De Caters had
prepared his second machine and waited for improvement during the
afternoon, but after rolling out his machine to check the wind he
decided against flying, since another accident would risk his
participation later during the meeting.
Wednesday 27 October
In the morning the weather was cloudy, but the temperatures were mild
and there was only light wind. The crowd was disappointed, perhaps
naturally since the past days had offered so little action. De Caters
made three short flights and finally became the first to cover an
entire lap of the course. The official figures were 1,141 metres flown
in 1:45. This qualified him for a gold medal "grande module"
offered by the Aero Club of Belgium to the first member of the club, or
an affiliated club, to cover one thousand metres in a heavier-than-air
machine in Belgium during 1909. "Zodiac III" made a flight of
45 minutes, carrying M. de Montigny, head of the organizing committee,
to the city centre and back.
Thursday 28 October
The weather on the sixth day of the meeting was relatively good, but
misty. Rougier used the favourable conditions to full effect, making
three flights, each longer than the previous. The longest flight, made
during the afternoon, was officially credited as 49.665 kilometres in 1
h 16:08. One lap was not counted, because he flew inside a pylon. His
other flights lasted 9 minutes and 36 minutes respectively. In the
afternoon Molon put his Blériot on its nose and caused some damage.
Meanwhile de Caters, who was disappointed with the performance of his
plane, travelled to Paris in order to get a new propeller. He returned
in the evening to hear the news of the great flights of his competitor.
"Zodiac III" again made a 45-minute flight over Antwerp,
circling the cathedral, then a second shorter flight.
Friday 29 October
Rain and high winds resulted in a completely wasted day. De Caters had
mounted his new bigger propeller and made some short ground tests to
measure its thrust, but that was all that happened.
Saturday 30 October
Ideal weather and light winds meant that lots of spectators came to the
field. The day's action started soon after ten o'clock, when
Noël Crahay made a short flight in his Blériot, crashed and was lightly
injured when the plane nose over and came to rest inverted. Rougier
made an effort at the altitude prize and took the lead with a flight of
120 metres. Olieslagers had repaired his plane and made a flight of
three laps. De Caters had finally sorted out his spare plane and made a
nineteen-minute flight covering almost fourteen laps. Rougier tried to
improve his lead in the distance contest, but had to land after six
laps. At two o'clock Olieslagers made another flight, but crashed
at the third pylon and again damaged his plane. Afterwards de Caters
and Rougier tried to improve their marks. De Caters made a flight of
six laps, touching the ground once or twice. His plane was obviously
still not in perfect trim and the engine didn't run well. Rougier
equalled his altitude of 120 meters.
The airship "Zodiac III" made a flight over the city centre
and circled the cathedral tower, then continued to Mechelen (Malines)
to do the same thing before returning. The 60 km flight took one and a
half hour. Prince Albert visited the airfield and made a short flight
in "Zodiac III" during the afternoon. His uncle, King Leopold
II, didn't approve of this irresponsible risk-taking and reportedly
sentenced him to eight days of room arrest.
Sunday 31 October
Strong winds of 25-40 km/h made all flights impossible. The
indefatigable Olieslagers had repaired his plane enough to make some
ground rolls.
Monday 1 November
This was All Saints' Day and a public holiday, so large crowds
gathered at the airfield. Most of flyers thought the weather was too
windy, but it improved enough for de Caters, no doubt eager to please
his home-town fans, to make two one-lap flights at noon and two
o'clock. Brégi had arrived with Louis Paulhan's old Voisin
"Octavie No. 3" and made some tests. Between three and four
o'clock the winds calmed down a little and Rougier and de Caters
made flights of six and two laps respectively. "Zodiac III"
made three trips.
Tuesday 2 November
The last day of the meeting was full of action. The first to fly was
Brégi, who took off soon after ten o'clock and completed sixteen
laps in twenty minutes. While he flew de Caters took off and flew six
laps. As he landed Rougier took off. De Caters immediately took to the
air again, so the crowd was treated to the "magnificent
spectacle" of three planes in the air at the same time. De Caters
completed nine laps and Rougier eleven. Soon before noon Olieslagers
again wrecked his plane after a flight of 300 metres. Wilford, who had
repaired his plane tried to take off, but failed to gain any
height.
During the afternoon de Caters made a flight in relatively strong wind.
He took off, then landed immediately again, then took off for a second
time, but crashed from an altitude of 30 meters when he lost control
during a turn and flew into the trees and fencing at the edge of the
field. That was his second plane wrecked, but again he escaped
unharmed, and fortunately his engine too. Anxious to make a good
impression in his home town he lost no time in buying the airframe of
the similar Voisin of his German competitor Schlüter, who hadn't
flown during the meeting. He immediately set about to fit it with the
surviving Vivinus engine and promised to have it flying during the
day!
Rougier broke the official world altitude record by reaching 270
meters. After the landing he was carried to the tribunes, where he was
congratulated by the Mayor of Antwerpen while the band played the
Marseillaise.
In the afternoon Brégi flew two laps. Around four o'clock Molon
flew first one, then three laps. During these flights he scored the
fastest lap of the meeting, 1:14. During the day Comte de la Vaulx and
the "Zodiac III" flew from Antwerp to Brussels and back. The
100-kilometre flight was carried out at an altitude of 100 to 150
metres and took two and a half hours. As a farewell gesture they made a
last flight at around four o'clock, during which hundreds of
flowers were thrown to the crowd. Finally, towards the end of the
afternoon, de Caters flew two laps in his new plane - not somebody to
give up easily! He also brought a passenger, even though it was
discouraged by the officials, who thought the field was too small for
such adventurous stunts.
Conclusion
The Antwerp meeting was badly hit by the poor weather, which is perhaps
only what could be expected at that time of the year so close to the
North Sea. Rougier's official altitude record was of course the
high point of the meeting, even though everybody knew that Count
Charles de Lambert had flown much higher during his famous Eiffel Tower
flight two weeks earlier.
According to the aviation press, the most impressive performance of the
meeting was that of the little airship "Zodiac III". It
proved the practicality of such a small airship, only 1,400 cubic
metres compared to other ships of more than three times the volume. It
made twelve flights and on a couple of days it was the only aircraft to
fly. All in all it carried 41 different persons during the meeting.