On 2002-10-29 10:54, AllThumbs wrote:
4) More accurately, Houdini died of peritonitis (caused by a ruptured appendix)

On 2002-10-30 02:33, x-treem wrote:

Quote:

On 2002-10-29 10:54, AllThumbs wrote:
4) More accurately, Houdini died of peritonis (caused by a ruptured appendix)

Alright someone else is on board with me on this! Beyond myself and one other, no one ever mentions peritonitis.

Oddly enough, his appendix was on the wrong (opposite) side of his body as well. This little known fact appears in a letter from Walter B. Gibson to escape artist Norm Bigelow. kind of

On 2002-10-31 13:53, AllThumbs wrote:
oh, I forgot to say:

If anyone is taking part in a 'Houdini Sceance' tonight, please reconsider, I'm sure Houdini is fed up with being bugged every year with pleas to get through every year!

Regards,

Kris Sheglova

Harry Houdini was to visit Australia on a theatrical tour, so the Aerial League undertook to invite him to bring his Viosin biplane with him, mindful of the publicity such a flight would generate in their attempts to promote aviation. By March 1910, Houdini had his aircraft at Diggers Rest, outside Melbourne, along with Ralph Banks, an American, who had brought a Wright Flyer down from Sydney. Banks was determined to beat Houdini into the air and attempted a flight on 1st March, only to have a sharp gust of wind cause his aircraft to dive into the ground after take off, smashing it completely; Banks escaped with minor injuries.

Houdini’s other competitor was a Bleriot monoplane, which had been purchased by an Adelaide businessman who had visited Europe and England in the hope of finding an aircraft capable of being demonstrated and sold in Australia. While he was in England, the French flier, Louis Bleriot had flown from France to Dover in England, creating a storm of controversy about the vulnerability of England to an Armada of flying machines and gained himself, and his aircraft, a great measure of excellent publicity. Mr. Jones, the Adelaide businessman concerned, recognised the achievement of Bleriot and his aircraft and paid ₤1,000 in advance, for a Bleriot type XI monoplane, powered by a 24hp Anzini rotary engine. This aircraft, an advanced type for the time, employed primary flight controls, which would be recognisable today. A control column was used with a series of levers and cranks to “warp” or alter the shape of the wing, in order that the amount of lift developed by the wing to be increased or decreased, a rudder bar operated by the pilot’s feet, allowed the aircraft to veer right or left, and a forward or rearward movement of control column would cause the nose rise or fall in flight.

The Bleriot arrived in South Australia and Mr. Jones engaged an engineer, Bill Wittber, to assemble and rig the aircraft. Bill’s ability as an engineer and his interest in aviation, wetted by such magazines as “Flight”, made him an excellent choice for the job. Assisted by Fred Custance, the machine was assembled and displayed in John Martin’s store in Rundle Street, Adelaide. From there it moved to Bolivar, a country town outside Adelaide, where the first attempts at flying it were to be made. At this point, none of those involved had ever flown an aircraft! The Bleriot manual was consulted carefully and on 13th March, the aircraft was run around the paddock with Wittber at the controls. The machine struck a tussock, lurched into the air and after about 15 metres, landed. Whilst it was only a short distance and Wittber never claimed it as a flight, it was landed without damage. On the morning of 17th March, 1910, Custance is believed to have taxied the aircraft around the same paddock several times. It is claimed that he later was able to make a successful take-off and achieved a short flight, however, another attempt resulted in the aircraft apparently stalling and crashing causing extensive damage to the propellor, undercarriage and wheels. Subsequently, it was returned to Adelaide for repairs and was later destroyed by fire while in storage that winter. (Unfortunately some confusion remains in respect of these claims but they may well represent the first flights to take place in Australia.)

While little publicity attended the efforts in South Australia, those of Harry Houdini at Diggers Rest received wide reporting. Houdini had a full understanding of the value of publicity and there were a number of would-be aviators, including Banks, present at Diggers Rest for his initial flights and his efforts were widely reported in the newspapers of the day.

Following the advice of his mechanic, a Mr. Brassac, Houdini waited until the 18th March, when weather conditions were perfect and taxied the aircraft to test the engine and controls. Then he opened the throttle, the engine roared and the aircraft surged toward a clump of trees and then soared skyward and stayed aloft for a minute. He landed safely and went on to fly on two or more occasions that day and on the 21st March flew for seven minutes. Undoubtedly, Houdini had mastered the ability to pilot an aircraft in controlled powered flight and would go on to give further demonstrations at Rose Hill in Sydney. Houdini’s Voisin aircraft resembled an enlarged powered version of the box kites, which Hargrave had experimented with some fifteen years earlier. Powered by a 60-hp ENV engine the Voisin was a type that amassed considerable flying hours in Europe, and while, perhaps, not as advanced as the Bleriot monoplane, was certainly capable of sustained flight in the hands of an experienced pilot.