French Flivver

Georges Barbot and the famous "air flivver " in which he won 25,000 francs for crossing the English Channel arrived at Roosevelt Field, L. I., in preparation for a flight to Chicago.

The tiny monoplane weighs but 400 pounds without the pilot. Its wing, thick at the body and tapering to knife thickness at the outer edges, its short, slender fuselage, are the last word in lightness and aerodynamic efficiency. The machine has the appearance of a beautiful silver albatross.

The two-cylinder engine weighs only 20 pounds and is scarcely bigger than a phonograph motor. It develops 12 horsepower and the plane can fly 60 miles to the gallon. Yet so skilled is the design that Barbot flew to 6,000 feet in 30 minutes, and can attain a speed of 70 miles an hour.

Accompanied by the large De Havilland airplanes, the flivver maneuvered beautifully, to the surprised admiration of many experts. But per-haps the most extraordinary feature of the monoplane is its ability to get away from the ground at not more than 15 miles an hour, and to land in any small field after a very short run of perhaps 50 feet.

According to Dewoitine, the designer and builder, who arrived here on the Paris, the machine can be built for $400. Perhaps we have here the safe, easily handled airplane, flown anywhere, which will place aerial joyriding within the reach of every adventurous young man.