Between the years 1907 and 1910 many unknown inventors and mechanics won renown through their aerial accomplishments. Outbursts of fervor greeted every fresh success in air endeavor. On wings the patriotism of France soared to heights of exaltation. Lethargy gave way to enthusiasm. Voisin, Blériot, Delagrange, Latham, Paulhan, Védrines became national heroes. If a popular aviator flew a winning race, crowds attended his steps and surrounded his hotel. If one was injured, a sympathetic assembly gathered outside the hospital where he lay, and extras were issued by the daily journals as to his condition. Annual airplane meets and exhibitions had the patronage of the French Government. Experts were constantly occupied in making mechanical improvements in the motor, steering gear and wings of the wondrous new machines that had intrigued the imagination, the very soul of awakened France. Though France owes a debt to American inventors, always generously acknowledged, French aviators quickly attained supremacy on the continent. When the war came, the country was already dotted with aerodromes and airplane factories, and hundreds of trained aviators and mechanicians were ready to take the air for their beloved France. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 18. SERIAL No. 166 COPYRIGHT, 1918. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: GUYNEMER BROUGHT DOWN BY A BOCHE, BUT WITHIN FRENCH LINES] _GUYNEMER, THE WINGÈD SWORD OF FRANCE_ _The Flying Storks_ FOUR At the time of Guynemer’s death he was commander of the Flying Storks, a squadron of high-record fighting aviators whose feats have for over three years been the sensation of the Allied front. The original membership comprised ten pilots, some of whom had already attained national renown. Approximately fifty warriors that have carried its emblem down the highways of the air have been killed, wounded, or reported missing. Three squadron chiefs, Captain Auger, Lieutenant Peretti and Captain Guynemer, have fallen in aerial battles; three other chiefs have been gravely wounded--Commandant Brocard, Captain Heurteaux and Lieutenant Duellin. The prowess of The Storks may be gauged by the statement that fourteen members of this famous escadrille, (only one of ten score flying organizations attached to the French army), brought down a third of all the German planes destroyed before January, 1918, or two hundred in less than three years. This is the official count. Many more enemy planes met defeat from their guns, but without the required number of official witnesses. “_Les Cicognes_” (The Storks) were organized in April, 1915, by Commandant Brocard, now retired from active fighting. The first machine adopted by the corps was the Nieuport-3, on whose side was painted a stork with spread wings. In 1917, Spad models supplanted the Nieuports in the service of The Storks.