It was now Mr. Curtiss’ turn to be captain of design and construction. Under his supervision aëroplane III, called the _June Bug_, was ushered forth, in the month of honeymoons. It differed from the two preceding in having a box tail; also in having a nainsook cover, instead of the red and white silk that characterized the _Red Wing_ and the _White Wing_.
After some practice, this flyer behaved so well that it seemed competent to win the Scientific American Cup offered for a public flight of one kilometer straight away. Accordingly an official trial was arranged with a committee of the Aëro Club of America, for the fourth of July, 1908. It was the first official flight in the western hemisphere, and proved in every way most satisfactory. The machine flew 2,000 yards over an S-shaped course at a speed of 39 miles an hour, displayed admirable control, and had abundant motive power. The performance was an intimation and augury of the victorious flights to come the following year. As the Association now repaired to Dr. Bell’s summer home, the Hammondsport experiments terminated for the season.
The year 1908 also brought to happy fruition the long and persistent experiments of Louis Blériot, the most illustrious pioneer and champion of the monoplane. Beginning in 1900, he had tried one type after another, of flying machine, till he became world renowned for his fertility of invention, his daring, his picturesque accidents and hairbreadth escapes. So long as he was not killed he was certain to make progress; for he had every endowment that ensures success. He possessed the energy of early manhood, having been born in 1872; he had the thorough technical training of the Central School of Arts and Manufactures, where he graduated in 1895; he possessed extraordinary talent for invention and constructional detail; he had the prowess, courage and coolness requisite for testing intractable and dangerous flyers; he was in the world’s most active center of aviation; he also had sufficient means. If he was late in achieving success, it was because he preferred to develop original ideas, and could not be content with merely copying his predecessors.
Like many other novices in aviation, Blériot began by trying to build a machine with flapping wings that should fly like a bird. This was to be actuated by a carbonic acid motor. In 1904 he abandoned his first machine, of bird type, and turned to aëroplanes, beginning with a biplane of the Farman, or Voisin type. His second machine was built by Gabriel Voisin, one of the most experienced of the pioneer aëroplane manufacturers. This biplane, unprovided with an engine, was mounted on floats, towed along the Seine by a motor boat, and rose from the surface carrying Voisin as pilot. _Blériot III_, composed of elliptical cells, or sustaining surfaces, and powered with two _Antoinette_ motors of 25 horse power each, was tested without success on Lake Enghien during the year 1905-6. _Blériot IV_ was made of quadrangular cells, and launched at Bagatelle in 1906, carrying a soldier, Peyret; but crashed to earth in its first trial. Finally in 1907, _Blériot V_, mounted by the inventor himself, rose into the air and flew successfully, but was lacking in stability. His sixth aëroplane was of the Langley type, provided with a 24-horse-power motor, then with a 50-horse-power _Antoinette_; but it was unstable fore and aft. One day it traversed 184 meters, then fell from a height of 25 meters and was shattered on the ground. His seventh was one of the swiftest yet constructed, attaining a speed of nearly 80 kilometers an hour, and, in two private trials, covering a distance of 500 meters. Thus seven years had slipped away, leaving Blériot still in the tentative period of his work. But now he was at the threshold of a career of brilliant success, which soon brought him the highest honors at home and throughout the world.