Length 32 feet
Greatest width 39 feet
Weight with one passenger 465 pounds.
Speed 30 miles an hour


A modern aeroplane with airman and passenger frequently weighs
over 1 ton, and reaches a speed of over 60 miles an hour.

It is interesting to note that Santos Dumont, in 1913--that is,
only seven years after his flight in an aeroplane at Bagatelle
made him world-famous--announced his intention of again taking an
active part in aviation. His purpose was to make use of
aeroplanes merely for pleasure, much as one might purchase a
motor-car for the same object.

Could the intrepid Brazilian in his wildest dreams have foreseen
the rapid advance of the last eight years? In 1906 no one had
flown in Europe; by 1914 hundreds of machines were in being, in
which the pilots were no longer subject to the wind's caprices,
but could fly almost where and when they would.

Frenchmen have honoured, and rightly honoured, this gallant and
picturesque figure in the annals of aviation, for in 1913 a
magnificent monument was unveiled in France to commemorate his
pioneer work.



CHAPTER XXVIII