But there were other records broken. Ralph Johnstone, flying the small Wright biplane racer, which was equipped with particularly large propellers, broke the altitude record of 9,104 feet which had been set in France by climbing to an altitude of 9,714 feet. The round trip to and from the clouds took him 1 hour and 43 minutes. In connection with the altitude trials, the daring of Johnstone and Hoxsey was particularly notable. Both of these aviators took up their Wright biplanes when the wind was blowing so fiercely that they could hardly turn the pylons. When they got to a great altitude, one time the gale was so terrific that they were carried backward at a speed of nearly 40 miles an hour, and both of them had to land in open country; Johnstone at Holtsville, L. I., 55 miles away, and Hoxsey at Brentwood, half that distance. During these flights both of them had reached altitudes of more than a mile in the air. But these records were not destined to stand long, as will be shown by the table on page 75. But world's distance and altitude records were being broken in Europe, too, and during the summer of 1910 the record keepers were busy putting new names at the heads of their lists, as will be shown by the table on page 76. The long distance speed race, called the "Circuit de l'Est," which took in a course 488 miles long, of six towns around Paris, aroused as much enthusiasm as any. The prize which was offered by the newspaper _Le Matin_ of Paris was for 100,000 francs. The race started on August 7, with eight contestants, and ended on August 17 with Alfred LeBlanc, in his Blériot monoplane, the winner. He had made the distance in six stages at an average speed of 40 miles an hour, flying through rain, fog and wind. Next came Aubrun in a Blériot and Weyman in a Farman. Not only was this race one of the severest tests that the aeroplane had ever had, but also it was a trial to the aviators that did a great deal to prove the practicability of the aeroplanes for more serious work than pleasant day sport. ALTITUDE FLIGHTS IN 1910[A] ================================================ AVIATOR | ALTITUDE | AEROPLANE | -------------+-----------+---------------------+ Paulhan | 4,164 feet| Farman biplane | Olieslaegers | 4,490 " | Blériot monoplane | Brookins | 4,503 " | Wright biplane | Latham | 4,658 " | Antoinette monoplane| Chavez | 5,850 " | Blériot monoplane | Morane | 6,691 " | Blériot monoplane | Morane | 8,469 " | Blériot monoplane | Chavez | 8,790 " | Blériot monoplane | Drexel, A. | 9,450 " | Blériot monoplane | Johnstone | 9,714 " | Wright biplane | Legagneux |10,746 " | Blériot monoplane | Hoxsey, A. |11,476 " | Wright biplane | -------------+-----------+---------------------+