Glenn Curtiss became the most famous American aviator when he shocked the European flying community by winning the Gordon Bennett Cup at the International Air Meet in Rheims, France. The award was for the fastest flight speed. Curtiss achieved a speed of 46.5 miles per hour. The following year in Los Angeles he won $6,600.00 in prizes for the fastest speed, endurance and quick starting. The Curtiss Golden Flyer became the definitive American plane by 1910 and was being used by stunt pilots flying over small towns and farms, who in time invented the sport of “barnstorming.”