Glenn Curtiss was one of the great innovators of motorcycling and aircraft in the early days of the combustion engine. His V-8 and V-12 aircraft engines were legendary and record-setting on earth and in the sky. Technical Editor Kevin Cameron rates Curtiss as a hero, and Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer agrees. We also have excellent technical information about land speed racing from a engineer/racer Wes Orloff who also rates Curtiss as a hero, and we examine Curtiss' speed record set on a beach in 1907.