THE history and development of mechanical flight may he confined almost entirely to the present century. In the last century some success had been achieved in gliding flight, model aeroplanes had been made and flown, and at least two man-carrying aeroplanes had actually left the ground, but it was not until the year 1903 that the Wright Bros., having ended a pains taking research in gliding flight, earned for themselves the honor of being the first men to fly. Directly the success of the Wright

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... Bros. became known, or rather when people began to believe that what the Wright Bros. claimed was actually true, the development of flying became rapid in the extreme. Directly mechanical flight was possible, full scale experiments were carried out, often at the risk of the life of the experimenter, and the more obvious prob lems became apparent. In the short space of 14 years our scientific knowledge of aeronautics compares very favorably with the world-old science of navigation of the sea.