Improvements are still in rapid progress. The hydroaeroplane has been
invented. This is a slightly modified aeroplane with equipment that will
keep it afloat on the water from which it may rise and fly at the will
of the pilot. Aviators have developed high skill in the control of their
machines in mid-air. They have at high speed described intricate
figures, sustained themselves in inverted positions and performed the
dangerous and thrilling feat of "looping the loop" in their swift
downward flight. They have ascended high in air, reaching an altitude of
over 20,000 feet, and increased their speed rate to 126 miles an hour.
Swifter than flight of bird and outspeeding the winged tempest, man has
cleft the highways of the air. A long line of fatal accidents has marked
his progress, but with reckless and audacious courage he has kept his
course until he has added the "upper deep" to the realm of his dominion.