KRONFELD ON GLIDING AND SOARING.pdf - Lakes Gliding Club

78 KRONFELD ON GLIDING & SOARING
established a height record of one thousand three hundred
and forty feet. Then, inspired by the Master's example,
young Nehring, who had already distinguished himself in
the Rhon, started in his " Konsul " on one of those distance
flights for which he had shown great aptitude, and on this
occasion his performance was truly masterful. For the
first time he worked his way systematically from hillside
to hillside, making the most of every foot of height and
planning out his course carefully with regard to the lie of
the land. A distance flight of twelve and a half miles was
the result, but the most noteworthy feature was the fact
that the landing place was higher than the starting point.
Nehring had made the first long distance flight in which
height was not lost.
A great storm brought the Russian meeting to a premature
end. More than thirty Russian planes and seven German
ones were housed in tents pitched at some distance from
the place where the competitors were accommodated. The
tents were guarded at night by a few Russians, but one night
towards the end of the meeting a whirlwind tore across the
country. Its onslaught was so sudden that it was impossible
for the watchers to summon help, and when the pilots went
out next morning to investigate the damage they found the
camp a mass of ruins. All the Russian tents and machines
were destroyed, but the German tent still stood erect, with
all its planes intact! With inimitable good comradeship
the Russian sentinels had devoted their energies to the
preservation of their guests' property.