154 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



and wonderful imagination, and therefore tries all sorts of things. 

 The machine with elliptical cells was launched on floats in the Seine 

 in order to haul it up as a kite, and was Bleriot's third. He had an 

 idea that this elliptical arrangement would increase the stability very 

 much, but it did not, and he gave up that idea. He then constructed 

 No. 4, which he called a box plane. 



Machine No. 5 was of the Langley type, 1 on the same plan that our 

 Army officers had been unable to obtain further funds to experiment 

 with — two sets of wings, one behind the other — he placed it on 

 wheels, and with that type he got some very fair flights, flying 474 

 feet [Aug. 6, 1907]. That was not enough for him, so he went from 

 that to the monoplane and he has built, I think, six of them. Since 

 then he has adhered to the so-called dragon-fly plan and is now 

 flying on No. 12. On the 13th of July, 1909, he flew 27 miles in 45 

 minutes. Plate 11 shows the machine on which he made his journey 

 cross-country from Etampes to Chevilly, a* distance of 27 miles, and 

 on that occasion he flew across a railway train, over one of the 

 churches, and over various buildings. 



On the 25th of July Bleriot attempted to cross the British Channel 

 and succeeded. Plate 12 is from a photograph taken on that occa- 

 sion. That trip comprised a distance of 33 miles and was made in 37 

 minutes. It created great excitement, great applause, and great 

 wonder, although, as a matter of fact, it was perhaps not as difficult 

 a feat as the previous flying across country, but it appealed very 

 much more to the imagination. 



Bleriot then went to the meeting at Rheims in Champagne, and 

 there exhibited some very good performances. He flew over the 

 grandstand at a very great height, made a trip on the 27th of August 

 of 25 miles in 41 minutes, winning the ninth prize for distance, while 

 on the succeeding day he flew 6 miles in 7 minutes and 48 seconds, 

 winning the first prize for speed. 2 



The next man who began experimenting was Mr. Esnault-Pelterie, 

 a young French civil engineer, who started out with gliding ma- 

 chines, and then built a monoplane. Plate 8, figure 3, gives a view 

 of the 1908 design. That is the machine as finally perfected. He has 

 made quite a number of flights, but no very long ones nor any high 

 ones, the highest being 100 feet. 



Capt. Ferber, who is next to be mentioned, has been the chief apos- 

 tle of aeroplanes in France. He became interested in the subject at 

 an early date (1898) and has been promoting aeroplanes ever since. 

 He began with gliding experiments. At first he was greatly in favor 

 of the monoplane, but when I explained to him the advantages of 



1 See appendix for account of flights with Bleriot machine No. 5, built on Langley type. 



2 Subsequently, Dec. 12, 1909, he was driven against a house during an exhibition flight 

 at Constantinople, met with his twenty-second fall, and sustained injuries sufficiently 

 severe, though not fatal, to require his going to a hospital. 



