lise the importance
of streamline struts and fuselages towards the end of this transition
period. These efforts were at first not always successful and showed at
times a lack of understanding of the problems involved, but there was
a very marked improvement during the year 1912. At the Paris Aero Salon
held early in that year there was a notable variety of ideas on the
subject; whereas by the time of the one held in October designs had
considerably settled down, more than one exhibitor showing what were
called 'monocoque' fuselages completely circular in shape and having
very low resistance, while the same show saw the introduction of
rotating cowls over the propeller bosses, or 'spinners,' as they came to
be called during the War. A particularly fine example of stream-lining
was to be found in the Deperdussin monoplane on which Vedrines won
back the Gordon-Bennett Aviation Cup from America at a speed of 105.5
m.p.h.--a considerable improvement on the 78 m.p.h. of the preceding
year, which was by no means accounted for by the mere increase in engine
power from 100 horse-power to 140 horse-power. This machine was the
first in which the refinement of 'stream-lining' the pilot's head, which
became a feature of subsequent racing machines, was introduced. This
consisted of a circular padded excresence above the cockpit immediately
behind the pilot's head, which gradually tapered off into the top
surface of the fuselage. The object was to give the air an uninterrupted
flow instead of allowing it to be broken up into eddies behind the
head of the pilot, and it also provided a support against the enormous
wind-pressure encountered. This true stream-line form of fuselage owed
its introduction to the Paulhan-Tatin 'Torpille' monoplane of the Paris
Salon of early 1917. Altogether the end of the year 1912 began to see
the disappearance of 'freak' machines with all sorts of original ideas
for the increase of stability and performance. Designs had by then
gradually become to a considerable extent standardised, and it had
become unusual to find a machine built which would fail to fly. The
Gnome engine held the field owing to its advantages, as the first of
the rotary type, in lightness and ease of fitting into the nose of a
fuselage. The majority of machines were tractors (propeller in front)
although a preference, which died down subsequently, was still shown for
the monoplane over the biplane. This year also saw a great increase
in t