Eugene Ely Daredevil Aviator PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XV OVEB THREE STATES--AND HOME! AND now comes the day of the great tristate race, a day that was to be tinlike any I had ever lived through before. I was to watch Ovie sail away out of my sight, knowing that he would be far above the clouds for hours and that I could only follow him on the map. More perfect weather for an airplane race could not have been ordered, for no one would have known how to improve it. The sky was deep blue, clear as crystal, with a few light clouds. There was the tang of early September in the air, a hint of the coming fall. Long before noon, the time which had been set for the start, the largest crowd that had ever gathered on the aerodrome at Squantum packed the grand-stand and overflowed into the bleachers. The surrounding country was fairly black with people, and even the harbour was speckled with heavily laden boats. I was told that over in Boston the roofs were covered with men, 158 women, and children, all with eyes turned toward the aviation field. For this was to be the greatest cross-country race ever held in America, and, indeed one of the most notable events in the early history of aviation. The course was from Boston to Nashua, New Hampshire; to Worcester, Massachusetts; to Providence, Rhode Island; then home again to Boston--just a hundred and eighty-six miles as the crow flies. There were two divisions, one for monoplanes and one for biplanes. The prizes totaled seventeen thousand five hundred dollars, the prize for the winning monoplane being ten thousand. There were less than a dozen flyers at the Squantum meet, but among them were Harry Atwood, Tom Sopwith, the reckless daredevil Beachy, who was later killed in California, and Eugene Ely, his pal, also killed shortly afterward during...