feat--he swung his legs and hips to one side or the other, as
occasion required, and, after hundreds of glides had been made,
he became so skilful in maintaining the equilibrium of his
machine that he was able to cover a distance, downhill, of
300 yards.

Later on, Lilienthal abandoned the glider, or elementary form of
monoplane, and adopted a system of superposed planes,
corresponding to the modern biplane. The promising career of
this clever German was brought to an untimely end in 1896, when,
in attempting to glide from a height of about 80 yards, his
apparatus made a sudden downward swoop, and he broke his neck.

Now that Lillenthal's experiments had proved conclusively the
efficiency of wings, or planes, as carrying surfaces, other
engineers followed in his footsteps, and tried to improve on his
good work.

The first "birdman" to use a glider in this country was Mr. Percy
Pilcher who carried out his experiments at Cardross in Scotland.
His glides were at first made with a form of apparatus very
similar to that employed by Lilienthal, and in time he came to
use much larger machines. So cumbersome, however, was his
apparatus--it weighed nearly 4 stones--that with such a great
weight upon his shoulders he could not run forward quickly enough
to gain sufficient momentum to "carry off" from the hillside. To
assist him in launching the apparatus the machine was towed by
horses, and when sufficient impetus had been gained the tow-rope
was cast off.