Grande Semaine d'Aviation

The Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne was an aviation meet held near Reims in France during August 1909. It was the first international public flying event and was seen both at the time and by later historians as marking the coming of age of heavier-than-air aviation. Almost all of the prominent aviators of the time took part, and the 500,000 visitors included Armand Fallières, the President of the French Republic and the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George.

The Grand Semaine d'Aviation, held between 22 August and 29 August 1909, was sponsored by many of the leading makers of champagne including Moët et Chandon and Mumm and organised by a committee headed by the Marquis de Polignac. It was held on the plain of Bétheny, about 5 km (3 mi) north of Reims, which later became the Reims – Champagne Air Base. A large grandstand was constructed for the event, together with a row of sheds to accommodate the aircraft. Next to the grandstand was the "Popular enclosure", complete with an enormous scoreboard. Amenities for the spectators included a restaurant that could seat 600 people, an area of specially laid lawn with bandstands and flowerbeds, and a post office, from which 50,000 postcards were sent each day and nearly a million words dispatched by press correspondents. The spectator area was only a few hundred metres from the Laon-Reims railway line, and a temporary station was provided.

A rectangular competition course of 10 km (6.2 mi), marked by four pylons was set up for the various competitions, with the strip intended for taking off and landing in front of the grandstands, opposite which was the timekeepers hut, provided with a signalling system to indicate to the spectators which event was being competed for. Flying conditions were primitive: the area over which much of the flying was to take place was farmland: some of the crops under cultivation had not been harvested and where this had been done there were haystacks: more than one flyer was to fall foul of these obstacles.

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