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Title: Le Jeu Des Grands Raids |
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Description: The poster for "The Game of the Long Distance Flights" pictures six pilots who became famous for their feats of long distance flying. Clockwise on the left are three pilots, Hugo Echnerd (Germany), Bert Hinkler (England), Charles Lindbergh (U.S.). On the right, are three French pilots, Dieudonne Coste, his copilot, Maurice Bellonte, and his former copilot, Joseph LeBrix. Hugo Echnerd made the first transatlantic flight in his Graf Zeppelin from Germany to America in 1929. Echnerd’s Graf Zeppelin was the largest aircraft in existence, carrying twenty passengers and forty crew members for the 111 hour and 44 minute flight to America. The return trip from America to Friedrichshafer, Germany took 71 hours and 12 minutes. Dr. Echnerd, the designer, builder, and commander of the Graf Zeppelin demonstrated the possibilities of a lighter than air aircraft for passenger flight. In 1937, Echnerd received a Guggenheim medal for his work in airships. To the left of Echnerd is Bert Hinkler. Bert Hinkler made the first solo flight from England to Australia in 1928 in his Avro Avian light monoplane. It was during this unprecedented flight that Hinkler set a world speed record crossing from England to Australia in 15 days. In honor of his flight from England to Australia Hinkler received a gold medal from the International Aeronautic Foundation in 1929. Hinkler later crossed the South Atlantic on his solo flight from South America to Africa. By virtue of his great accomplishments, Hinkler has been nicknamed the ‘British Lindbergh’ and ‘lone eagle’ for his solo flights. January 7, 1933, Hinkler left London intending to set another speed record from England to Australia but he never traveled past Italy. After three weeks of searching Hinkler’s body was found with the wreckage of his plane in the Italian mountains. Charles Lindbergh made the first non-stop solo crossing of the Atlantic from New York to Paris on May 20-21, 1927 flying a Ryan NYP monoplane, which he named the Spirit of St. Louis. The flight covered a distance of 3,590 miles and took 33 hours and 39 minutes. On September 1-2, 1930, three years after Lindbergh’s famous flight from New York to Paris, Captain Dieudonne Coste and his copilot, Maurice Bellonte, completed the ‘Great Circle Crossing’ when they flew from Paris to New York. The plane piloted by Coste and Bellonte was a red Breguet biplane named Point d’interrogation. The flight took 37 hours and 18 minutes. Coste flew 10 miles further and the flight was 3 hours longer than Lindbergh’s New York to Paris flight. Situated next to Bellonte is Joseph LeBrix. Joseph LeBrix was Coste’s former copilot for their first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic from St. Louis, Senegal to Port Natal, Brazil. The plane they used was a Breuget 19, named Nungesser-Coli. On April 14, 1922, LeBrix and Coste arrived in Bourget Field having touched 5 continents and covering 35,000 miles. Early in 1928, LeBrix broke 7 world’s aviation records and was awarded the American Flying Cross. In 1931, LeBrix was en route from Paris to Tokyo when his plane’s engine exploded mid-air and crashed in Russia The six pilots depicted here flew higher, faster, and farther, setting new world records for non-stop transatlantic flights. |
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