Take, for example, the attempts which were made, at the Rheims meeting, to win the altitude prize. To the amazement of spectators, one pilot rose until he flew slightly more than 500 feet high. This feat was, in 1909, considered a marvellous one. In 1911, only two years later, a man rose to an altitude of nearly two-and-a-half miles! The heights attained in 1909 could, indeed, have been appreciably increased had men possessed the necessary confidence in themselves, and in their machines, to force them higher. But, in these pioneer days, a height of 150 feet or 200 feet from the ground was considered quite an appreciable altitude. Nowadays, when carrying out a long cross-country flight, an airman will fly several thousand feet high. Thus it can be seen what definite progress has been made in this aspect of flying alone. High-flying has considerable importance. The airman who does not soar high, when going across country, meets the worst of whatever wind is blowing. It eddies from hill-tops, and around woods. The higher he flies, therefore, the steadier the wind blows, because it is unaffected by any inequalities of the ground. This is why the great cross-country flyers invariably ascend to a considerable altitude. In the year 1909, it may truly be said, men were really learning to fly. Their machines were crude, and they were invading a new element. Therefore they made comparatively short flights, and confined nearly all their operations to aerodromes, where there was always a smooth place of descent below them, should the failure of their engines compel a hasty landing. But, in 1910, a new and more daring spirit developed. With growing confidence, airmen soared higher and higher. Breezes no longer made them hasten to descend; and, with this new spirit of adventure, came the desire for cross-country flying, instead of monotonous circling round the aerodrome. With the commencement of long flights across country from point to point, came the first practical opportunity for applying the aeroplane to military reconnoitring work. The first cross-country flights marked, indeed, a very definite stage in the development of the aeroplane; and it was in 1910 that the possibilities of the flying machine, in this regard, were demonstrated, on a convincing scale, by such aerial contests as the flight from London to Manchester, and the Circuit de L’Est in France—the first taking place early in the flying season of 1910, and the latter towards its end. Two machines had, by this time, emerged as representing the best of their type. One was the Farman biplane, with the invincible "Gnome" motor; the other was the Blériot monoplane, now also equipped with the "Gnome." So far as distinction can be made, the Farman machine stood for ease of manipulation and general "air-worthiness"; while the Blériot represented the development of a small, portable, high-speed machine.