1911 Paris to Madrid air race

The 1911 Paris to Madrid air race was a three-stage international flying competition, the first of several European air races of that summer. The winner was French aviator Jules Védrines, although his win, along with the rest of the race, were overshadowed by a notorious fatal crash at takeoff.

The air race was organized by the French newspaper Le Petit Parisien, at least partly inspired by the success of its competitor Le Matin in sponsoring the Circuit de l'Est air race of August 1910, and profiting from its increased circulation.

The first stage was to begin at the French airfield at Issy-les-Moulineaux and end 400 km (250 mi) to the south-southwest in Angoulême; the difficult second stage from Angoulême over the Pyrenees to the seaside Spanish town of San Sebastián; the final leg of about 462 km (287 mi) from San Sebastián over the Sierra de Guadarrama range to Madrid. The first prize was 100,000 francs, with 30,000 francs as second prize and 15,000 francs for third place

An estimated crowd of 300,000 spectators gathered in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, 21 May 1911 The competitors were to take off at five-minute intervals starting at 5.00, but flying started at around 3.45, when Jules Védrines and Andre Frey made short trial flights.

The first competitor to take off, at 5:10, was Andre Beaumont , followed by Roland Garros and Eugène Gilbert. Frey took off at 5:35, made a circuit of the field and landed: after some adjustments he tried again at 6:00, but damaged a wheel and had to delay his attempt for repairs. The next competitor was not ready, and the following, Garnier, only made a short flight. He was followed by Jules Védrines, who immediately after take off attempted to land since his aircraft was not handling properly. The crowd had begun to get out of control at around six, spilling out of the enclosures onto the flying field, and although no-one other than the aviators, their assistants and race officials were meant to enter the flying area, a party of government ministers had also left their grandstand. In an effort to avoid the spectators he crashed, escaping injury but severely damaging his aircraft. At 6:22 Le Lasseur de Ranssay departed and at 6:30 Andre Train was called to the starting line.

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