[Illustration: PLATE XI.--AN AIRMAN’S POINT OF VIEW. Sheets of water are excellent guides when flying. Trees show up clearly, too; also roads--as may be seen from the one curving at the extreme right of this photograph, which was taken from a biplane piloted by Mr. Grahame-White.] When flying above land, the making of leeway may be nothing more than an annoyance; but should the pilot be passing above the sea, between coasts many miles apart, this side sweep of the wind may be a peril. One of the grim tragedies of aviation is attributed to leeway in a wind. Leaving France on a flight to England, Mr. Cecil Grace was driven from his course by a wind which blew up Channel towards the North Sea. There was fog, too; and as the pilot was using an early type compass, it may have failed to register accurately. At all events, he never reached the English shore. Seen once while in flight--and this by a fishing-smack--he was lost in the mist, flew wide of his course, and passed out to the North Sea instead of towards the cliffs at Dover. From that day to this his fate has been a mystery, although it is true that not long after he vanished his flying cap and goggles were washed upon the beach near Ostend--mute but tragic witnesses to the ending of his flight. But of the airman’s body, or of the wreckage of his machine, nothing was ever found. [Illustration: FIG. 66.--Effect of a side wind. A. Starting-point; B. Point steered for; C. Point actually reached; D. The course flown by the machine, owing to the pressure of a southerly wind.]