XIV. EARLY ATTEMPTS IN AVIATION XV. A PIONEER IN AVIATION XVI. THE "HUMAN BIRDS" XVII. THE AEROPLANE AND THE BIRD XVIII. A GREAT BRITISH INVENTOR OF AEROPLANES XIX. THE WRIGHT BROTHERS AND THEIR SECRET EXPERIMENTS XX. THE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE XXI. THE INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE (Con't.) XXII. THE AEROPLANE ENGINE XXIII. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR OF AVIATION ENGINES XXIV. THE WRIGHT BIPLANE (CAMBER OF PLANES) XXV. THE WRIGHT BIPLANE (Cont.) XXVI. HOW THE WRIGHTS LAUNCHED THEIR BIPLANE XXVII. THE FIRST MAN TO FLY IN EUROPE XXVIII. M. BLARIOT AND THE MONOPLANE XXIX. HENRI FARMAN AND THE VOISIN BIPLANE XXX. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR XXXI. THE ROMANCE OF A COWBOY AERONAUT XXXII. THREE HISTORIC FLIGHTS XXXIII. THREE HISTORIC FLIGHTS (Cont.) XXXIV. THE HYDROPLANE AND AIR-BOAT XXXV. A FAMOUS BRITISH INVENTOR OF THE WATER-PLANE XXXVI. SEA-PLANES FOR WARFARE XXXVII. THE FIRST MAN TO FLY IN BRITAIN XXXVIII.THE R.F.C. AND R.N.A.S. XXXIX. AEROPLANES IN THE GREAT WAR XL. THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE BAROMETER XLI. HOW AN AIRMAN KNOWS WHAT HEIGHT HE REACHES XLII. HOW AN AIRMAN FINDS HIS WAY XLIII. THE FIRST AIRMAN TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN XLIV. THE FIRST ENGLISHMAN TO FLY UPSIDE DOWN XLV. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE XLVI. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE (Cont.) XLVII. ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSE (COnt.) XLVIII. SOME TECHNICAL TERMS USED By AVIATORS XLIX. THE FUTURE IN THE AIR THE MASTERY OF THE AIR PART I. BALLOONS AND AIR-SHIPS CHAPTER I. Man's Duel with Nature Of all man's great achievements none is, perhaps, more full of human interest than are those concerned with flight. We regard ourselves as remarkable beings, and our wonderful discoveries in science and invention induce us to believe we are far and away the cleverest of all the living creatures in the great scheme of Creation. And yet in the matter of flight the birds beat us; what has taken us years of education, and vast efforts of intelligence, foresight, and daring to accomplish, is known by the tiny fledglings almost as soon as they come into the world. It is easy to see why the story of aviation is of such romantic interest. Man has been exercising his ingenuity, and deliberately pursuing a certain train of thought, in an attempt to harness the forces of Nature and compel them to act in what seems to be the exact converse of Nature's own arrangements.