A MONOPLANE
From a photograph of a Bleriot Monoplane in "Flying," New York
Air records
Now the airplane can do all kinds of fantastic tricks. Aviators "loop the loop" dozens of times, and move in any direction through the air at will. They can rise in the air thirty-six thousand feet, and can fly at the rate of three miles a minute. In 1907 Orville Wright made the first record flight of an hour. All this has been accomplished in scarcely more than a dozen years since then. Flying developed especially rapidly during the World War. Airplanes were used to spy out the enemy's defenses, to direct gunfire, to drop bombs, to shoot down soldiers, and to hunt submarines. The daring and brilliant fighting of airmen in the World War makes a story more breathless than that of any novel. Incidents like landing with burning planes or with planes partly stripped of their canvas were not uncommon for these fighters of the air.
A HYDROPLANE
Bombing machines
One type of airplane was used for fighting and another heavier type for bombing. Air bombing is now so accurate that in the future it may be useless to build super-dreadnaughts and large battleships.
210. Peace Time Uses of the Airplane. During times of peace airplanes are useful in exploring and for carrying passengers and light freight. Airplanes scarcely more expensive than the earlier automobiles can now be bought.