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^[[123]] [[newspaper clipping]] [[circle logo]] AERO AMERICA'S AVIATION WEEKLY [[/circle logo]] Vol. IV No. 10 Edited by E. PERCY NOEL June 8, 1912 MAIL-CARRYING RACE CONCLUDES CICERO EVENTS CHICAGO, June 2.-[[underlined in red]]With Max Lillie and Paul Studensky through a perfect twilight sky Sunday evening in the winging their way homeward in the 2,000-foot level first race ever held between U. S. aerial mail carriers, the[[/underlined in red]] four-day meet of the Aero Club of Illinois at Cicero came to a very successful close. From several angles the meet was one of the best held in this country. There was an abundance of spectacular flying which was at the same time safe flying. No trick flying was allowed when the weather was ugly, yet the spectators did not complain as they were kept constantly informed through the megaphones of exactly what the avia- [[image - black & white photo of the three mail carriers with raised hands being sworn in]] [[caption]]SWEARING MAIL CARRIERS. LEFT TO RIGHT-FOURNIER STUDENSKY, LILLIE[[/caption]] tors had to contend with. As a result the spectators on Thursday and Friday, when the wind was very bad during the early afternoon, patiently waited for the wind to die down, to be rewarded by spectacular flights. It was the first meet ever held in which the aviators were not the judges of the weather conditions. All of the contracts called for flights, "if the weather is considered propitious by Field Director Drew." As Drew has a reputation for conservatism all the aviators willingly agreed to the clause, and instead of being asked to do more than they wanted to, Drew held them down to straight flying whenever the wind was tricky. The meet was in striking contrast to the one held at the same time in Milwaukee where there were several bad smashes. On every afternoon the most popular event was the "Aero Club of Illinois Sky Cruise." In this all of the aviators were sent up into the sky with instructions to do whatever they liked best. Lillie in his Wright climbed each day in this event between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, and then glided down with his motor cut off; [[underlined in red]]Studensky wandered over the surrounding country in his big Beech-National;[[/underlined in red]] Mestach would climb 1,500 feet or so and then come humming down on a long straight glide; Tournier in the Nieuport raced around the field below a hundred feet, and Brodie did roller waving all over the sky. On opening day, Thursday, the weather conditions were perfect. They were so perfect in fact that Lillie flew down to Grant Park with Catherine Stinson as passenger in the morning, was arrested there and was unable to fly back to the field until late in the afternoon. But the rest of the aviators put up a great exhibition. Mestach executed a spiral glide in his Borel Morane that was more spectacular than the low flying of Rene Simon at the Chicago meet last summer. Brodie, with a 60 minutes handicap took the five-mile race from Tournier by very clever cutting of the corners. [[underlined in red]]Studensky won the second heat from Mestach in a neck to neck finish.[[/underlined in red]] Drew made a hit with the crowd by getting the "umbrellaplane" up to 25 feet in a half-circle of the field. On Friday, May 31, the wind was bad during the early part of the afternoon and Lillie did most of the flying. But towards twilight all of the fliers were up in the air continually. [[underlined in red]]Studensky handled the enormous Beech-National biplane in clever fashion. This plane has a most imposing appearance on the ground and when she is up above 2,500 feet she is a beautiful sight. All of her movements are rolling, there is no sudden dipping, and, as a result, the machine was nicknamed the "Mauretania" during the meet. But the plane that pleased the crowd most was the graceful[[/underlined in red]] Nieuport owned by the National company and driven by Tournier. Equipped with only a 35-horsepower Anzani, the aeroplane makes 52 miles an hour because of her wonderful lines. On Saturday Lillie, Mestach, Tournier and Studensky were sworn in as mail carriers. Lillie took the mail to Elmshurst, [[underlined in red]] while Studensky and Tournier went to Wheaton.[[/underlined in red]] Mestach misunderstood the time of starting and didn't get away. Tournier made a forced landing on the way
