Reims Grand Week of Aviation. Poster advertising the pioneering aviation event ('Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne') held near Reims, France, from 22 to 29 August 1909. The aircraft included monoplanes, biplanes, balloons, and airships. In the background at lower right is Reims Cathedral (Notre Dame de Reims). Most of the leading aviators took part in this event, and there were some 500, 000 visitors. The location of this aviation meeting would later become the Reims-Champagne Air Base. There were many flying competitions, including the inaugural Gordon Bennett Trophy, won by US aviator Glenn Curtiss. This lithograph is by French artist Ernest Montaut (1879-1936). |