PAGUE

The Daily Journal and Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee: Friday, April 7, 1911, Transcribed by Bob Davis - 6-11-04 French Lieutenant Flies 124 Miles Over Mediterranean,      Lieut. Pague accomplished a daring feat on March 5th by flying over the Mediterranean from Antibes to the little island Gorgona, off the Italian coast. He covered a distance of more than 200 kilometers (124.5 miles), establishing a new record for over-sea flight. This he did without the assistance of tugs, torpedoboats or any other craft to guide him or add to his confidence by their presence.      Lieut. Pague started at 5:30 o'clock in the morning in a Bleriot monoplane with the intention of landing at Corsica and proceeding thence by way of Sardina to Sicily, to Tunis to visit the colonel of the Fourth Algerian Rifles, from which regiment he resided to devote himself to aviation. In the presence of a few spectators the aviator left the ground, rising at once to a considerable height. He changed his course southward and soon vanished. Aided by a strong wind, his progress was rapid and a dispatch finally was received that he had arrived Gorgona.      This island lies between Corsica and Leghorn. It is a small wooded rock about two miles long, belonging to Italy. Pague landed at one o'clock in the afternoon, the descent being made awkwardly and with great danger to the aviator on account of trees and rocks. The monoplane struck heavily and was badly damaged, but Pague was not hurt.      It had been his intention to land at Ajaccio, on the west coast of Corsica, but, losing his way, the aviator shaped his course to the far north. As it was he covered a great distance over the water than if he had carried out his original plan.      Pague's over-sea flight broke the previous record of J. A. D. McCurdy, who on January 10th last flew from Key West to within ten miles of the Cuban shore, a distance of ninety-one miles. Glenn H. Curtiss last August made a flight over Lake Erie of fourty-four miles, while other aviators have done fifty or more miles on several occasions.

 

I have no information as to the dates of his birth or his death.   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer aviator, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back