The Antoinette VII Monoplane was the first plane to achieve an altitude of 500 feet. Designed by Leon Levasseur, the Antoinette first flew in 1907 and was considered one of the most beautiful of the early planes. When it appeared at “Le Meeting” in Rheims, France in 1909, it prompted an English woman who saw it for the first time, to describe it: “A dragonfly, a darting, graceful, immensely powerful dragonfly…the beautiful white wings and flashing propellers stood out as a dream of pure loveliness.”