an put up a
speed record of forty miles an hour in a flight lasting forty minutes.

Santos-Dumont produced the famous 'Demoiselle' monoplane early in 1909,
a tiny machine in which the pilot had his seat in a sort of miniature
cage under the main plane. It was a very fast, light little machine but
was difficult to fly, and owing to its small wingspread was unable
to glide at a reasonably safe angle. There has probably never been a
cheaper flying machine to build than the 'Demoiselle,' which could be so
upset as to seem completely wrecked, and then repaired ready for further
flight by a couple of hours' work. Santos-Dumont retained no patent
in the design, but gave it out freely to any one who chose to build
'Demoiselles'; the vogue of the pattern was brief, owing to the
difficulty of piloting the machine.

These were the years of records, broken almost as soon as made. There
was Farman's mile, there was the flight of the Comte de Lambert over the
Eiffel Tower, Latham's flight at Blackpool in a high wind, the Rheims
records, and then Henry Farman's flight of four hours later in 1909,
Orville Wright's height record of 1,640 feet, and Delagrange's speed
record of 49.9 miles per hour. The coming to fame of the Gnome rotary
engine helped in the making of these records to a very great extent,
for in this engine was a prime mover which gave the reliability that
aeroplane builders and pilots had been searching for, but vainly. The
Wrights and Glenn Curtiss, of course, had their own designs of engine,
but the Gnome, in spite of its lack of economy in fuel and oil, and its
high cost, soon came to be regarded as the best power plant for flight.

Delagrange, one of the very good pilots of the early days, provided a
curious insight to the way in which flying was regarded, at the opening
of the Juvisy aero aerodrome in May of 1909. A huge crowd had gathered
for the first day's flying, and nine machines were announced to appear,
but only three were brought out. Delagrange made what was considered an
indifferent little flight, and another pilot, one De Bischoff, attempted
to rise, but could not get his machine off the ground. Thereupon the
crowd of 30,000 people lost their tempers, broke down the barriers
surrounding the flying course, and hissed the officials, who were quite
unable to maintain order. Delagrange, however, saved the situation
by making a circuit of the course at a height of thirty feet from the
ground, which won him ro