Visitors to Brooklands aerodrome on 25th September, 1913, saw one of the greatest sensations in this or any other century, for on that date a daring French aviator, M.Pegoud, performed the hazardous feat of flying upside down.
Before we describe the marvellous somersaults which Pegoud made, two or three thousand feet above the earth, it would be well to see what was the practical use of it all.If this amazing airman had been performing some circus trick in the air simply for the sake of attracting large crowds of people to witness it, and therefore being the means of bringing great monetary gain both to him and his patrons, then this chapter would never have been written.Indeed, such a risk to one's life, if there had been nothing to learn from it, would have been foolish.
No; Pegoud's thrilling performance must be looked at from an entirely different standpoint to such feats of daring as the placing of one's head in the jaws of a lion, the traversing of Niagara Falls by means of a tight-rope stretched across them, and other similar senseless acts, which are utterly useless to mankind.
Let us see what such a celebrated airman as Mr.Gustav Hamel said of the pioneer of upside-down flying.
"His looping the loop, his upside-down flights, his general acrobatic feats in the air are all of the utmost value to pilots throughout the world.We shall have proof of this, I am sure, in the near future.Pegoud has shown us what it is possible to do with a modern machine.In his first attempt to fly upside down he courted death.Like all pioneers, he was taking liberties with the unknown elements.No man before him had attempted the feat.It is true that men have been upside down in the air; but they were turned over by sudden gusts of wind, and in most cases were killed.Pegoud is all the time rehearsing accidents and showing how easy it is for a pilot to recover equilibrium providing he remains perfectly calm and clear-headed.Any one of his extraordinary positions might be broughtabout by adverse elements.It is quite conceivable that a sudden gust of wind might turn the machine completely over.Hitherto any pilot in such circumstances would give himself up for lost.Pegoud has taught us what to do in such a case....his flights have given us all a new confidence.
"In a gale the machine might be upset at many different angles.Pegoud has shown us that it is easily possible to recover from such predicaments.He has dealt with nearly every kind of awkward position into which one might be driven in a gale of wind, or in a flight over mountains where air-currents prevail.
"He has thus gained evidence which will be of the utmost value to present and future pilots, and prove a factor of signal importance in the preservation of life in the air."1
Let us stand, in imagination, with the enormous crowd of spectators who invaded the Surrey aerodrome on 25th September, and the two following days, in 1913.
What an enormous crowd it was! A line of motor-cars bordered the track for half a mile, and many of the spectators were busy city men who had taken a hasty lunch and rushed off down to Weybridge to see a little French airman risk his life in the air.Thousands of foot passengers toiled along the dusty road from the paddock to the hangars, and thousands more, who did not care to pay the shilling entrance fee, stood closely packed on the high ground outside the aerodrome.
