as scouting and reconnaissance planes and
as spotters for American artillery.

In the period from September 12th to 11 o'clock on the morning on
November 11th, the American aviators brought down 473 German machines.
Of this number, 353 were confirmed officially. Day bombing groups, from
the time they began operations, dropped a total of 116,818 kilograms of
bombs within the German lines.

Bombing operations were begun in August by the 96th Squadron, which in
five flying days dropped 18,080 kilograms of bombs. The first day
bombardment group began work in September, the group including the 96th,
the 20th and 11th Squadrons. The 166th Squadron joined the group in
November.

In twelve flying days in September the bombers dropped 3,466 kilograms
of bombs; in fifteen flying days in October, 46,133 kilograms, and in
four flying days in November, 17,979 kilograms.

On November 11th, the day of the signing of the armistice, there were
actually engaged on the front 740 American planes, 744 pilots, 457
observers and 23 aerial gunners.

Of the total number of planes, 329 were of the pursuit type, 296 were
for observation and 115 were bombers. In addition, several hundred
planes of various types were being used at the instruction camps when
the war ended.

America, although the last of the great nations to embark upon a great
aircraft production program, was the birthplace of the airplane, the
Wright Brothers being the undisputed inventors of the modern type.

Wilbur and Orville Wright made their first experiments in flying at
Kittyhawk, N. C. Their first attempts were of a gliding nature and were
accomplished by starting from the top of a dune or sand hill, the
operator lying full length, face downward, on the under plane of the
machine. During these experiments they succeeded in flying six hundred
feet.

Their first flight with an airplane driven by a motor was on December
17, 1903, when they succeeded in flying about two hundred and seventy
yards in fifty-nine seconds. This machine was driven by a
sixteen-horse-power motor.

Santos Dumont was one of the early pioneers in aeronautical experiments.
After showing a marked talent with balloons, he turned his attention to
heavier-than-air machines, and in 1906 created a world's record in a
flight of 230 yards at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour.

In 1907 Henry Farnum made a half circular flight in a Voisin biplane,
using a fifty-horse-power motor, returning to his s