When Man first dreamt of flying, he most probably envisaged himself soaring through the air with wings on his arms, and his legs trailing behind him like a bird's. This mental picture quite likely influenced a good deal of his early aeronautical thinking and it is a curious fact that even in comparatively recent years a number of the more bizarre aircraft have incorporated a prone pilot position as if the designers, having abandoned orthodox practice, had also reverted to what perhaps seemed a more natural position.