History of aviation – October 18, 1912. Achieving the longest distance in a straight line at the controls of an airplane, this is the challenge posed to aviators as part of the Pommery Cup, an aeronautical event founded in 1909 by the Marquis de Polignac which rewards two pilots each year, April 30 and October 31. A trophy that Eugène Gilbert and Marcel Brindejonc of Moulinais covet and this is how they will take flight on October 18, 1912 to try their luck.
It was in the early morning of October 18, 1912 that they took off: in fact, the flight to be validated had to be executed between sunrise and sunset. The two men set off from the towns of Valenciennes and Villacoublay respectively.
The defending champion is driver Pierre Daucourt, the latter having managed to cover a distance of no less than 830 kilometers. The goal is to do better than him. An enterprise that unfortunately neither of them will carry out… Eugène Gilbert will never arrive in San Sebastián, namely the destination he wanted to reach, the fault of a fuel shortage. And Marcel Brindejonc des Moulinais, disturbed by the fog, will give up.
