Aviation, whose first timid essays began in 1906, progressed rapidly.
After Santos Dumont, who on November 22, 1906, covered 220 meters while
volplaning, a group of inventors--Bleriot, Delagrange, Farman,
Wright--perfected light motors. In 1909 Bleriot crossed the Channel,
Paulhan won the height record at 1380 meters, and Farman the distance
record over a course of 232 kilometers. A visionary, Viscomte Melchior
de Vogue, had already foreseen the prodigious development of air-travel.
All the young people of the time longed to fly. Guynemer, studying the
new invention with his customary energy, could hardly do otherwise than
share the general infatuation. His comrades, like himself, dreamed of
parts of airplanes and their construction. But the idea of Lieutenant
Constantin is different: "When an airplane flew over the quarter,
Guynemer followed it with his eyes, and continued to gaze at the sky for
some time after its disappearance. His desk contained a whole collection
of volumes and photographs concerning aviation. He had resolved to go up
some day in an airplane, and as he was excessively self-willed he tried
to bring this about by every means in his power.
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