Aviation History – August 17, 1910. In this month of August 1910, the Circuit de l’Est takes place, an aeronautical event open to civilian aviators which has six stages: Paris – Troyes – Nancy – Mézières – Douai – Amiens – Paris, which represents a journey of 800 kilometers. After ten days of “confrontation” between the competitors, the big winner of this competition is known this Wednesday, August 17, 1910, it is the pilot Alfred Leblanc, holder of the patent bearing the number 17, won on December 16, 1909 .
Installed at the controls of an airplane designed by the French air pioneer Louis Blériot, a Blériot No. 22, he covered the course the fastest, taking 12 hours 1 minute and 1 second to complete it.
With a time of 13 hours 31 minutes and 9 seconds, about 1 hour 30 more than Alfred Leblanc, Emile Aubrun climbed to second place in the Circuit de l’Est, whose prize money totaled 250,000 francs, with the stopover towns contributing 150,000 francs and the organizer of the event, namely the newspaper Le Matin, having put 100,000 francs on the table. An art object has even been added by the city of Paris.
