The "armoured" Antoinette, which was designed for military purposes, is entirely enclosed, even increasing the already great resemblance to a bird, while the direction rudder is made of a single surface, and the elevating rudder of two rhomboid-shaped rudders. The pilot sits in a cockpit with only his head and shoulders protruding above and has a view below through a glass floor. Its most important feature is the total elimination of cross wires, struts and the like. The resistance is greatly decreased, but the weight increased. In addition, a peculiar wing section is used, flat on the under side and curved on the upper side. The wings are immensely thick, being entirely braced from the inside. At the body the wings are over two feet thick. Their thickness decreases toward the tips, which are about eight inches thick. The shape of each wing is called trapesoidal, and they are set at a large dihedral angle. The motor is a regular 100-horsepower Antoinette. The oddest feature of this type is the landing gear, which is entirely enclosed to within a few inches of the ground; the landing wheels at the front are six in number, three on each side of the centre, enclosed in what is called a "skirt." At the rear are two smaller wheels. The dimensions are roughly as follows: Spread, 52-1/2 feet, wings, 602 square feet; length over all, 36 feet; depth of wings (from front to rear) at tips, over 9 feet, increasing to almost 13 feet at the centre. The total weight is nearly 2,400 pounds. NIEUPORT MONOPLANE The Nieuport monoplane is one of the newer machines that has attracted a great deal of attention for its speed with low-powered engines. Among the achievements of this monoplane was Weyman's winning of the James Gordon Bennett Cup and prize in England in 1911, and the demonstration of its remarkable passenger carrying abilities. The Nieuport also is a wonderful glider, for Claude Grahame-White took his new one up 3,000 feet at Nassau Boulevard, Garden City, during the 1911 meet there and glided down the whole distance without power, the downward sail taking him nearly as long as the upward climb. [Illustration: THE WRIGHT BIPLANE Baby Wright model. Orville Wright is in front of seat, while Wilbur Wright is holding back on the fuselage.] [Illustration: STANDARD CURTISS BIPLANE For reliability and stability the Curtiss biplane is one of the best known models.] [Illustration: CURTISS STEERING GEAR Sitting in front of the engine the aviator controls the ailerons by straps over his shoulders, and the direction and elevation rudders by the steering wheel.]