There are several other names that must be mentioned in connection with the early history of successful flight; these are the Frenchmen, Messrs. Henri Farman, Maurice Farman, the brothers Voisin, and Santos Dumont. These produced some of the first notably successful aeroplanes in Europe but seem to have discovered nothing which has had any marked effect upon the later development of flying machines. M. Farman adopted the auxiliary planes used by the A. E. A. and modified them to suit his ideas. ~WONDERFUL RECORDS OF AEROPLANES~ Volumes could be, in fact, have been written about the exploits of the first demonstrators of the practical heavier-than-air flying machines,--of the crossing of the English Channel by Bleriot, of the flights by Wilbur Wright at Rheims, France; of Mr. Curtiss’ winning of the first Gordon Bennet International speed trophy and his flight down the Hudson from Albany to New York; of Orville Wright’s flight at Fort Meyer, and the death of Lieut. Selfridge who was flying with him. The barest record of these interesting accomplishments would fill volumes. Of the aeroplane proper it is enough to say here that since 1908 its development has been too rapid for accurate recording. In strength, in speed, in reliability, in size and carrying capacity, it has developed at a remarkable rate. At this writing the speed record is about 130 miles per hour; the duration record is more than 24 hours, non-stop; the distance record is some 1,300 miles in one day; the altitude record some 26,000 feet. New records succeed the old ones with such rapidity that probably before this can be printed all these present records will have been greatly eclipsed. [Illustration: AEROPLANE “RED WING” HAMMONDSPORT, N.Y. FIRST AMERICAN PUBLIC FLIGHT, MAR 12 1908] [Illustration: The biplane in which G. H. Curtiss flew from Albany to New York in 1910.] Meantime the aeroplane has developed greatly in other directions. In flying over land with the early types of machines many fatal accidents occurred, particularly to the fliers who gave exhibitions everywhere during 1909, 1910 and 1911. A majority of these accidents were indirectly due to the fact that a very smooth surface is required for landing a fragile machine running at high speed. The obvious expedient was to develop machines capable of rising from and alighting upon the water. [Illustration: SOME FAMOUS FOREIGN MONOPLANES A modern German monoplane.] [Illustration: The machine in which Bleriot crossed the English Channel in 1909. A modified Langley type.] [Illustration: Rolland Garros and monoplane in which he flew across the Mediterranean Sea in 1914.] ~THE WONDERFUL FLYING BOAT~