First 'Gyro Death

Until last fortnight, Death had come to no man in an autogyro. Then LePere et Cie., French autogyro manufacturers, began experiments with a new type of autogyro, lacking auxiliary wings, movable tail surfaces, ailerons, supporting itself solely by its rotor which could be tilted from side to side or fore-&-aft, then locked in the new position. Test Pilot Pierre Martin took it up at the Villacoublay airdrome. He forgot to release the lock on the fore-&-aft control before he left the ground. His autogyro dropped from an altitude of only 150 ft., crashed & killed Pilot Pierre Martin. Hastily U. S. autogyro manufacturers pointed out last week that the fatal machine was a distant, experimental cousin of their product.

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