still supported by wires, but a mast extending above the  fuselage enabled the wings to be supported from above, as  well as underneath. This made possible the extended wing  length needed to lift an aircraft with a single set of wings.  Bleriot used a Pratt truss-type fuselage frame.  [Figure 1-5] More powerful engines were developed, and airframe  structures changed to take advantage of the benefits. As  early as 1910, German Hugo Junkers was able to build an  aircraft with metal truss construction and metal skin due to  the availability of stronger powerplants to thrust the plane  forward and into the sky. The use of metal instead of wood  for the primary structure eliminated the need for external  wing braces and wires. His J-1 also had a single set of wings  (a monoplane) instead of a stacked set.  [Figure 1-6] Powered heavier-than-air aviation grew from the Wright  design. Inventors and fledgling aviators began building their  own aircraft. Early on, many were similar to that constructed  by the Wrights using wood and fabric with wires and struts  to support the wing structure. In 1909, Frenchman Louis  Bleriot produced an aircraft with notable design differences.  He built a successful mono-wing aircraft. The wings were  Figure 1-5.  The world’s first mono-wing by Louis Bleriot.  Figure 1-3.  Octave Chanute gathered and published all of the  aeronautical knowledge known to date in the late 1890s. Many  early aviators benefited from this knowledge. Figure 1-4.  The Wright Flyer was the first successful powered aircraft. It was made primarily of wood and fabric. 1-3