On 18 June 1914, the banks of the Seine River near Paris were crowded with spectators for the Concours de la Sécurité en Aéroplane — an international competition for aviation safety. Among the 57 specially equipped aircraft, one stood apart: a Curtiss C-2 biplane piloted by a slight, 21-year-old American named Lawrence Sperry. Sperry was not merely flying; he was performing. He engaged his gyroscopic stabilizer, raised both hands above his head, and flew past the judges with no physical contact with the controls. Then, on a second pass, his mechanic Emil Cachin climbed out onto the starboard wing, shifting the aircraft's center of gravity. The Curtiss banked momentarily, but the gyroscope corrected the disturbance, and the machine steadied itself. The crowd was ecstatic. Sperry won the competition, and the future of instrument flight was written in that single, balletic demonstration.