Aviation pictures - the first arrival

From Jerripedia

Many pictures survive of the first aircraft to land in Jersey in 1912 as the island provided a staging point for a race for early airplanes from St Malo. We have a selection in our gallery below, and every now and again it grows with the emergence of another different image. This one, which was published 104 years ago in the Chronique de Jersey, is already in the gallery, but of much poorer quality. Now an original photographic print of the image has emerged, which can be reproduced at a much better quality than a copy from the newspaper. It is one of the best we have seen. It shows just how large was the crowd which gathered on the wet sand in St Aubin's Bay to witness this momentous occasion, and saw the tiny, primitive aircraft appear from behind Elizabeth Castle, before landing on the water's edge, followed by other competitors in the race. The aircraft in this picture is still just a speck above the rocks to the west of the castle, but it would have been just seconds away from landing in front of the crowd of onlookers. One fascinating aspect of this photograph and others on the page is that they show that everybody in the crowd which flocked to the beach was dressed as if it was mid-winter, whereas the landing took place in August

A report of the air races, and more photographs

The first four photographs below were taken from lantern slides.The first on the left is a copy of a section of the photograph at the top of the page, so it is likely that the others are also copies, probably of prints. This set of images first emerged on an auction website in April 2021

The routes of the 1912 St Malo air races
A competitor passes St Malo lighthouse
The first plane to land in Jersey, taken from the sea with a large crowde behind, and West Park in the background
The first arrival, sea on one side, a growing crowd on the other
The crowd waits
The aircraft approaches the landing area
The first aircraft lands
The first landing
The first aircraft about to land in Jersey
A postcard of the first plane to land in Jersey
Mabel was there!
The first aircraft to land in Jersey in 1912 from La Chronique de Jersey coverage
1912 from La Chronique de Jersey
1912 from La Chronique de Jersey
1912 from La Chronique de Jersey