Its past records have indeed fitted it to be a military machine. It is doubtlessly destined to play an important rôle in the present war in the hands of the French aviators. Especially suitable is this type for the one-seated military machine. Often it may be desirable to employ a two-seated machine to carry pilot and observer; but there is often, too, a use for the single-seated type of machine flying at a rate of some eighty miles an hour. The work of these observers is to make swift dashes over the enemy’s lines, make a speedy reconnaissance of the enemy’s position, and return at once to headquarters with what information has been obtained. The following are the dimensions, etc., of the 1914 type of armoured Blériot monoplanes:-- Length 6.15 metres Span 10.10 metres Area 19 sq. metres Motor 80 h.p. Gnome Speed 100 km. per hour THE ANTOINETTE MONOPLANE. There is another monoplane that will figure in the history of aëronautics--the Antoinette monoplane. This was the first flying machine to fly in a wind. Up to the time that Mr. Latham went to the flying meeting at Blackpool, which took place almost immediately after the famous Rheims meeting, aviators had only dared to fly in calm weather. On the flying grounds there used to be tiny flags on posts. When the flags hung down limply that was the time for flying. When they moved about, even languidly, that was the time to put the aëroplane to rest in its shed. Aviators then underestimated the capabilities of their own machines. When the aviators came to England the island breezes kept the little flags vigorously moving about. The aviators were consternated. The public was disappointed. It began to regard flight as a calm-weather business. Aëroplanes could not face one breath of wind! Of what practical use would they ever be!