SIR,—May I add these remarks to supplement and summarise the
interesting article that appeared in the Spectator of December 20.
1. French engineers were pioneers in aviation.
2. British engineers followed the French.
3. Germans and Americans contributed little in early years.
4. The Wright brothers' success was possible only after they had gone to France and continued their work there, In Great Britain the earliest aircraft, the Bat, was built by a young Clydeside shipbuilder who in this glider made the first flight by a piloted heavier-than-air machine in 1895.
Lord Kelvin then told Percy Pitcher that he would break his neck in the attempt, but he con- tinued to succeed until his tragic death on October 2, 1899, otherwise there is no doubt that Pitcher, not the Wright brothers four years later, would have built the first powered aeroplane to fly with a pilot.
1 attended the first flying meeting held in Scot- land. It took place on the Lanark race course and was described as the first ever held in Europe. Successful flying displays were on that occasion provided in Bleriot machines by Cattenco, Drexel, Dickson and Radley, the prizewinners, while
Chaviz, whose machine had been burnt on the rail- way journey, soared into the sky in a borrowed Bleriot. At that meeting the erratic performances by Colonel Cody provided the crowd of 50,000 with amusement.
JAMES CALDWELL
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