and exceptional skill.
In energy, courage, and determination he was unexcelled; but such
qualities, though of extreme value in a long and trying contest, were
marred by an impetuosity and an excitability which Vedrines could not
master, and which more than once cost him dear. He had not, besides,
as was shown in the Circuit of Britain, that skill in steering by map
and compass which aided Lieut. Conneau so greatly in all his flying.

A personality of unusual interest was that of the late Mr. S. F.
Cody--a man of a great though untutored imagination, and of an
extraordinary and ceaseless energy. A big man, and one whom it might
be thought would have been clumsy in the handling of an aeroplane, he
piloted the biplanes of his own construction with a remarkable skill.
He flew no other, of course, and this was greatly to his advantage in
actual manipulation. The great pilots who have excelled--one may
instance again Lieut. Conneau--have concentrated their attention as a
rule on one type of machine, learning all there is to be learned about
this particular craft, and being prepared in consequence, through
their knowledge both of its capacities and weaknesses, for any
contingency that may arise in flight. Another instance of such
specialisation was provided by Mr. Gustave Hamel. M. Bleriot--an
admirable judge in this respect--singled out Mr. Hamel, while this
young man was learning to fly in France, as an aviator of quite
unusual promise; and his prediction was, of course, more than
fulfilled. Devoting himself exclusively to the monoplane, Mr. Hamel
became a pilot whose perfection of control, very wonderful to witness,
was marked strongly by his own individuality. He had beautiful
"hands"--a precision and delicacy on the controls which marked his
flying from that of all others; while his judgment of speed and
distance, which was remarkable, represented natural abilities which
had been improved and strengthened by his constant flying.

CHAPTER X

CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING

When a pupil has finished his flying school tests, and has received
his certificate from the Royal Aero Club, he is in a stage of
proficiency which means that he has learned to control an aeroplane
when above an aerodrome and in conditions that are favourable, and
that he may be relied on to make no elementary mistakes. But as to
cross-country flying, with its greater hazards, he is still a novice,
with everything to learn. And so it is to flights fr