Airienteering with 13MIKE

by Fred J. Calfior and Douglas W. Miller

AirLeg 6

“The Frenchman, Louis Bleriot, was full of ideas, the wonder being that he survived them! Of the 13 different aircraft configurations he built or tested, more than half either failed to fly or crashed with Bleriot on board! To make matters worse, he was apparently a dreadful pilot by reputation, stated as being uncoordinated, slow to master the basics, and impatient with details!”

1) Climb to “2500” feet

2) When “17” DME from VNY VOR, turn LEFT to a heading of “210”

3) Go to AirLeg 15

“Yeah, 'ol Louis was pretty unorthodox and many a fast footwork saved his life! On one flight, he stated:

The monoplane took off like an arrow. Very quickly, I was up to 25 meters. I was quite impressed with this height when all at once the motor stopped dead. The machine started straight down. Figuring I was lost, I got the idea of leaving my seat and throwing myself back toward the tail. This maneuver almost succeeded; the plane leveled out, lost speed and rather slowly crumpled to the ground. I was not hurt.

The craft, as usual, was a wreck!”

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