How It Flies; or, The Conquest of the Air / The Story of Man's Endeavors to Fly and of the Inventions by Which He Has Succeeded

by Richard Ferris

J. ARMSTRONG DREXEL.

J. Armstrong Drexel is a native of Philadelphia. He was taught to fly a Bleriot machine at Pau by Grahame-White, and he has frequently surpassed his instructor in contests where both took part. At the English meets in 1910 he won many of the prizes, being excelled in this respect only by Leon Morane.

At Lanark, Scotland, he established a new world’s record for altitude, 6,600 feet. At the Belmont Park meet he passed his former record with an altitude of 7,185 feet, making this the American record, though it had been excelled in Europe. At Philadelphia, November 23, 1910, he reached an altitude of 9,970 feet, according to the recording barometer he carried, thus making a new world’s record. This record was disputed by the Aero Club, and it may be reduced. A millionaire, he flies for sheer love of the sport.