Progress in aviation — ctianute. 153 



previous records have been smashed. One was at Eheims, where the 

 Champagne people contributed large sums for the experiments. An- 

 other tournament took place later in Berlin, and still another in 

 Juvisy, near Paris, in October, 1909. 



The next man to gain prominence was the celebrated sportsman, 

 Henry Farman, who walked into the Voisin shop one day and ordered 

 an aeroplane. He succeeded on the 26th of October, 1907, in flying 

 253 feet, which at that time was considered a great feat. He then 

 attempted to sweep a circle, but did not succeed. It really took the 

 French people two years to learn how to turn a corner. They were 

 somewhat misled at first by a mathematical equation, and then closely 

 analyzed the motions of the bird. They found that he flexed one 

 wing at a lower angle than the other, placing himself thereby on a 

 slant, so that the centripetal force of gravity should overcome the 

 centrifugal force of the speed, and that similar effects could be pro- 

 duced by side fins and wing tips. Since that time they have turned 

 corners without great difficulty but only on long radii. 



Mr. Farman was successful, among other things, in sweeping curves 

 on the 6th of July, 1908, when he flew 12 miles in 19 minutes and 

 wontheArcnengaud prize which had been offered for the first turning 

 of a corner. One of his flights is shown in plate 10, figure 1. On 

 the '30th of October he made the first cross-country flight in history 

 by going from Chalons to Eheims, 17 miles in 20 minutes, thus win- 

 ning great applause and becoming the foremost aviator in France. 

 In 1909 he designed and built a flying machine of his own with which 

 to compete at the Eheims tournament. He put both skids and wheels 

 in this, the wheels being so adjusted that they could be lifted up, and 

 with that apparatus splendid results were obtained in the Champagne 

 tournament. The apparatus is shown in plate 10, figure 2. 



On the 18th of July that machine flew for 1 hour and 23 minutes 

 at Chalons. On the 23d of July he took a cross-country trip covering 

 40 miles from Chalons to Suippe. On the 27th of August his machine 

 made a flight of 112 miles at Eheims, which is the world's record for 

 distance at present, 1 and he received, therefore, the first prize in that 

 tournament. On the same day the machine flew 6 miles in 10 minutes 

 with three persons on board, this being the first time three persons 

 had ridden in a flying machine. 



The next experimenter to be mentioned is Louis Bleriot. He be- 

 gan his experiments in 1906, and has built and broken more machines 

 than any other aviator in the world. He has built 12 machines 

 and broken about 15, that being accomplished by rebuilding the 

 same machine after smashing it. He is a man of tremendous pluck 



1 Since this talk, Mr. Farman made, on the 3d day of November, 1909, a flight officially 

 estimated at l.°>7£ miles in 4 hours G minutes and 25 seconds, but really of 150 miles, 

 over the aviation grounds at Mourmelon. 



