The Blackpool Aviation Week (also known as the Blackpool Aviation Meeting) was an early British

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

that took place in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in October 1909. It was recognised by the Aero Club of Great Britain making it Britain's first official air show.

Creation of the show

Blackpool Aviation Week organising committee

In the six years following the

Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

's first powered flight aviation had spread across the world. France had become the centre of European flight. In July 1909,

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...

became the first person to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

in a powered aircraft. In August 1909, inspired by the accomplishments of the French, Lord Northcliffe, the owner of the

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

wrote to the Blackpool Corporation suggesting they hold their own air show. The Mayor of Blackpool led a delegation to the

Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne The ''Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne'' was an eight-day aviation meeting held near Reims in France in 1909, so-named because it was sponsored by the major local champagne growers. It is celebrated as the first international public flyin ...

Rheims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

and in early September the Corporation started planning for their own event. Over £6000 in prize funds was raised, primarily the Corporation, Lord Northcliffe and Sir Thomas Lipton. In order to run the event, the Lancashire Aero Club was formed in August 1909. The club then leased land from a local golf course about south of Blackpool. The golf course was converted over the course of six weeks, with the Ministry of Labour paid for 200 unemployed men to build the course, complete with grandstands, a clubhouse and hangars.

The event

The club aimed to attract the leading airmen of the age. French pilots including Henri Farman, Louis Paulhan,

Hubert Latham Arthur Charles Hubert Latham (10 January 1883 – 25 June 1912) was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane. Due to engine failure during his first of two attempts to cross t ...

, Henri Rougier and Alfred Leblanc entered, as did British pioneer Alliott Verdon Roe.

18 October

Around 60,000 spectators attended the first day of the event. The day was sunny with light breezes, which made for good conditions for flying. Roe made the first attempt at a flight, in a

triplane A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard (aeronautics), canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are. Design principles The trip ...

of his own design, but he failed to take off. Farman was the first to fly at the event, completing half of the main circuit using "Gypaète" – a plane owned by Paulhan. At his second attempt Farman became the first pilot to complete a full circuit of the course; Paulhan then took over his aircraft plane and flew another lap. Later in the day, Farman flew seven laps at a maximum recorded speed of . Rougier recorded the day's longest flight at nine laps – a distance of – in his Voisin aircraft. Leblanc flew one lap in his

Blériot Aéronautique Blériot Aéronautique was a French aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot. It also made a few motorcycles between 1921 and 1922 and cyclecars during the 1920s. Background Louis Blériot was an engineer who had developed the first practi ...

aircraft.

19 October

The second day of the week suffered from higher winds which increased during the day. The first flight was by Latham, who crashed his Antoinette after half a lap. Roe managed two short flights in the early afternoon, followed by Paulhan who completed eight laps of the course in difficult conditions.

20 October

Mortimer Singer attempted a flight in his Voisin around noon on the third day, but failed to take off, as did Blackpool Councillor A. Parkinson in his Blériot aircraft. Farman then took off, and completed 24 laps of the course before cramp caused him to land. He had flown in 1 hour 32 minutes, recording the longest flight of the week.

21, 22 and 23 October

No flying took place on Thursday, 21 October due to high winds. Friday morning saw further wind, but Latham managed two complete laps in his repaired Antoinette in the afternoon. Heavy rain on Saturday 23 October meant that Latham's was the last flight of the originally scheduled Week.

25 October

Because several days had been lost during the official Week, the organising committee decided to extend the event on the following Monday and Tuesday. Monday 25 October saw further wind and rain, and the extended event was officially canceled. However, the afternoon saw enough improvement in the weather that several pilots attempted flight, though only Roe was able to take off, and he only managed a short flight of about .

Prizes

The

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

newspaper offered a cup and £100 for the slowest complete circuit of the course won by Latham for a lap at .

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

gave £1000 towards the prize for the longest distance travelled, the total amount being £2000. This was won by Farman. Farman also won the £400 Daily Sketch prize for highest speed over any three laps, and the Daily Mail £1000 prize for the fastest lap.

Notes

Bibliography

References

{{reflist Airshows in the United Kingdom Blackpool Aviation history of the United Kingdom