The two most wonderful flights in the autumn of 1909 were those of Count de Lambert and Farman. During a meet at the Juvisy aërodrome, Lambert, on October 18th, after circling the ground a few times on a Wright biplane, attaining a height of 450 feet, started for Paris, steadily ascending in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. Circling this at an altitude of about 1,300 feet, he returned to Juvisy at 5.30 P.M., having journeyed 30 miles over that dangerous route, in about 50 minutes. This indicated that lofty flying might enable one to pass safely over a city, even with an unreliable motor, since, if the propeller stopped, a glide of many thousands of feet could be made, to choose a landing. Farman’s flight was less spectacular, but quite as marvelous. On November 4th, while competing for the Michelin trophy for the longest distance traversed in 1909, he flew continuously for 4 hours, 6 minutes, 25 seconds, voyaging in that time 144 miles, at an average speed of 35.06 miles an hour. This proved to be the record distance-and-endurance flight for the year. Other men spoke of sailing all day in a machine carrying ample gasoline, but failed to make good their words. PLATE XXIX. [Illustration: ESNAULT-PELTERIE MONOPLANE, EARLY PATTERN. (Courtesy W. J. Hammer.)] [Illustration: ESNAULT-PELTERIE MONOPLANE OF 1910.] Unheralded, but quite astonishing, were the flights of Santos-Dumont in September, 1909. Though conspicuous as a pioneer in aviation, he for a while had been absorbed in other affairs, and had not kept pace with his brother aëroplanists in France, since his bold and brief dashes into the air in the early days of the art. During the season of 1909, however, he developed a surprisingly small and simple monoplane, spreading 102 square feet of wing surface, and weighing in complete running order, 259 pounds. It was driven by a Darrac motor, mounted above the main surface, carrying the propeller directly on its shaft, and having radiator tubes along the inner surface of the main plane. Its triangular trussed frame was wheel-mounted, and tapered rapidly to the rear, terminating in horizontal and vertical rudders. With this tiniest flyer he sailed across country from St. Cyr to Buc, 4¾ miles, in five minutes, at the unprecedented speed of 55 miles an hour, repeating the performance several times, according to report. He also left the ground after a run of 60 feet, in an unofficial trial. Characteristically, he presented to the public the scale drawings of his machine, with all rights to its use.