Cot's Fiasco

Pierre Cot is a scrappy, bespectacled Radical-Socialist of 41 who is generally regarded as one of France's smartest young politicians. He has held the post of Air Minister off & on since 1933. His biggest feat was the merging of five unimportant airlines into potent Air France. Last week his prestige from this achievement was, temporarily at least, forgotten as the result of a fiasco which has been in the making for a year and last week attained its climax.

To publicize the Paris International Exposition, Minister Cot last fall suddenly conceived and as suddenly announced an air race from New York to Paris on May 21, tenth anniversary of Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Prize was a whopping $135,000 and the race was to be run no matter how bad the weather (TIME, Sept. 7). This suicidal suggestion at once drew protests from airmen all over the world, including Lindbergh, who had not been consulted. Chastened Minister Cot then extended the starting period to a month and closed the race to all but multi-motored planes with radios. But protests continued to spout and the U. S. Department of Commerce finally declared that it would not permit the race (TIME, May 31). By this time the handwriting was clearly on the wall, but stubborn Minister Cot refused to call off the idea. As a substitute publicity stunt for the Exposition, he devised a race from Istres, France, non-stop to Damascus, then back to Paris with as many stops as entrants wished. Last week this flight took the air with tremendous fanfare.

Instead of the 22 entries for the original transatlantic race, only 13 planes from three countries appeared at Istres. Eight were multi-motored bombers from Italy, four were French and the other was a DeHavilland Comet which got in from England just before the deadline. Weather was perfect and for once a long-distance air race was held without fatalities. But if all four French planes had crashed in flames, gloom in Paris after the race could have been no worse, for all the honors went to Italy, which took the first three places and the prize money (now $112,000). Even the lone English plane finished before Frenchman Paul Codos finally took fifth. To French aviation the race was a major humbling.

First of the Italian trio was a trimotored Savoia-Marchetti piloted by Lieut.-Commander Samuele Cupini and Captain Amedeo Paradisi, who covered the 3,800 miles in 17 1/2 hours at an average of 219 m.p.h. Co-pilot of the third Italian ship, only half-hour behind, was none other than Lieutenant Bruno Mussolini, thickset second son of Il Duce. On his account, the crowds at Le Bourget had all been carefully frisked by police before admission. With scrupulous politeness and notable lack of enthusiasm, they applauded as each plane landed. That night the Paris press gave Pierre Cot his comeuppance, clamored for his resignation.

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