i. _The Cody Biplane._--The Cody type was quite an experimental machine. It should not, however, be without notice, as it was an early effort towards the production of weight-lifting machines. These, in the future, will have to be evolved if the aëroplane is to take a large part in offensive operations. Scouting and offensive work call for different types of machines. The Cody biplane had the largest supporting surface that has been made, excepting that of Sir Hiram Maxim’s flying machine. The two main surfaces were 52 feet in length, 7 feet 6 inches wide. They had a supporting surface of 775 square feet. But this was small compared with the Maxim giant, which spread 4,000 square feet of surface. In the Cody machine the front elevators, which bore some of the load, alone represented 150 square feet. The two vertical rudders were at equal distances fore and aft of the main supporting surfaces. A distinctive feature was the elevator. This was in two separate parts, each of which could be moved independently of the other. Cody adopted the method of the brothers Wright for attaining lateral stability and steering--warping the main surfaces. There were vertical and horizontal rudders operated by a single steering wheel. Cody used generally an 80 h.p. engine, but in some of his experiments he went up to 130 h.p. A peculiarity of the screws was their greater width at the base than at the tips. The weight of the machine was about one ton. Though it was such a large machine some attempts were made to give it portability. The two ends of the main decks, each 16 feet long, were removable. The girder supporting the elevator could also be detached, as the rear rudder frame was made to fold back against the body. With this machine Cody flew at excellent speeds, averaging fifty miles an hour. On one occasion he was credited with seventy miles an hour. It was the Cody machine which won the first prizes which were open to the world at the military trials in 1912. Of all the earlier practical fliers in this country no one perhaps did so much to popularise flight as Cody. His pluck and perseverance, despite the constant disasters that were his lot, gained British appreciation, and all recognised that if he was not a man of letters he was one of intuition. His well-known man-lifting kite, unequalled indeed for the purpose for which it was designed, was an example of the illuminating flashes that were wont to cross his brain. It was not the product of calculation, but the happy thought.