This third extract from Martin's exceptional book, Sailplanes 1920-1945, published by Equip, tells of some of the achievements of 1922 and the progress that followed during the next two years

Anthony Fokker's biplane Anthony Fokker visited the Wasserkuppe first in 1921, with his cine camera. In August 1922 he arrived with a biplane two-seater which had been hastily built at his factory. He test flew it, solo. Area was added to the rudders and he then made the first passenger carrying, soaring flight. It lasted thirteen minutes. There were times during the closing days of the 1922 Wasserkuppe meeting when four or five sailplanes were flying simultaneously. These flights, though not always fully understood, stimulated interest around the world. Drawn by Martin. Partly as a publicity stunt by the Daily Mail newspaper, a glider meeting was organised in England on the South Downs north of Newhaven, at Itford Hill and Firle Beacon, during the week of l6th - 21st October 1922. A prize was offered for the longest duration over 30 minutes. Fokker took his biplane and raised the soaring record to 37 minutes. He then allowed his aircraft to be flown by an Englishman, Captain Olley, who set the new figure at 49 minutes. That Fokker was able to fly his biplane both solo and dual, was significant. The dilemma facing all designers of two-seat sailplanes is that, lacking any concentrated weight such as an engine, the human beings on board have a great effect on the location of the balance point. If the centre of gravity is too far back, the aircraft becomes dangerously unstable. Having the centre of gravity far forward is less dangerous but can lead to lack of elevator control, especially important when landing or taking off. In Fokker's biplane the two seats were one behind the other in a large fabric covered nacelle. The rear seat was between the twin spars of the lower wing. With both seats occupied the centre of gravity probably moved aft. Fokker also built a single seat biplane glider but he does not seem to have flown it often.   Peyret Tandem There was a glider meeting in France at Combegrasse which achieved little except that one pilot apparently soared, unintentionally, in a thermal for three full turns. No one recognised this for what it was. On the last day of the Itford meeting in England the French pilot Alexis Maneyrol set a world record of three hours 21 minutes. Maneyrol was flying the Peyret Tandem. Peyret, the designer, was enthusiastic about the tandem layout. By dividing the total lifting area into two equal, narrow c