Chapter 11 - 1922

ARMBRUSTER LEADS IN BALLOON RACE - Makes Longest Flight of Those Reporting; U S Entrants Not Yet Heard From. - GENEVA, August 7. (Associated Press)  Major Paul Armbruster of Switzerland, winner of last year's Gordon Bennett balloon race, has traversed the longest distance of all the balloons heard from, it was announced to-night. The Swiss pilot landed in the village of Karshlag, in lower Austria.

There are as yet no reports from the American entrants.

A spectacular descent was made by Major Valle, pilot of an Italian balloon. He descended 20,000 feet in nine minutes, landing in a wood near Wiener Neustadt, fifteen miles west of Vienna, without accident.

The Swiss pilot, Lieut. Ansermier, landed in a forest in upper Bavaria. The Spaniard, Martinez Banc?, landed at midnight in a storm at Sempach, near Lucerne.

Capt George, pilot of the Belgian balloon Zellick telegraphed to the committee that he had landed in a snowstorm in a forest northeast of Friedrichshafen at 3:30 o'clock this morning.

The English balloon Bee, piloted by Griffith Brewer, landed at 1 o'clock this morning, near Zurich, on account of heavy rains.

A dispatch (sic) from Bern, last night said three balloons flying from 900 to 1,500 meters above the earth, were seen at 8 o'clock and three others at 10 o'clock, travelling rapidly in a northeast direction, which would take them to the vicinity of Lake Constance. -

DeMuyter Wins Gordon Bennett Cup

In an official statement issued by the Aero Club of Switzerland on Sept. 6, Lieut. Ernest DeMuyter of Belgium was declared winner of the eleventh Gordon Bennett Balloon Race which started from Zurich, Switzerland, on Aug. 6. Lieutenant DeMuyter landed at Ocnitza, Roumania, about 780 miles from Zurich. H.E.Honeywell, American entrant, who landed at Tapio-Gyöngyös, Hungary, was ranked second with 660 miles; Maurice Bienaimé, French entrant, who landed at Mor, Hungary, was ranked third with 575 miles.

The delay in announcing the winner of this year’s Gordon Bennett Balloon Race was due to the fact that Lieutenant DeMuyter’s balloon escaped after the aeronaut had alighted, so that he was for a time deprived of his logbook and instruments with which to substantiate his claim. Fortunately for the Belgian pilot, his balloon came down near Bucarest, where it was deflated by the Roumanian air service and shipped back to Zurich together with the logbook and instruments. Has the balloon been lost without a trace, Lieutenant DeMuyter would undoubtedly have been disqualified. Alfred LeBlanc lost in this manner second place in the 1909 Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, when his balloon was thrown against the cliffs of the Carpathian Mountains and he barely had time to jump together with his aid, Delebecque, losing his balloon which was not heard of again.

By a curious coincidence, Mr. Honeywell again is ranked second in a Gordon Bennett Balloon race won by Lieutenant DeMuyter, the previous instance happening in 1920.

This year’s race seems to have been much more exciting than last year’s, for some of the competitors were fired upon by local militia mistaking the balloons for hostile aircraft, while others were kept prisoners for several hours and had to do much explaining before they were set free. As a result of Lieutenant DeMuyter’s victory, the 1923 Gordon Bennett Balloon race will take place in Belgium, under the auspices of the Aero Club of Belgium.