In September 1913, aviator Roland Garros crossed the Mediterranean from the French coast to Tunisia and flew almost 500 km over the sea. He was the first pilot to fly between Europe and Africa. His plane (bought with his own money) was a Morane-Saulnier type H equipped with a powerful 80 hp rotary engine, a Le Rhône model 9C (9-cylinder star engine), and a two-blade wooden propeller (photo). A successful sports and racing aircraft, twenty-six of the Type H were ordered by the French Air Force during the First World War. Some Morane Hs took part in the defense of Paris in the autumn of 1914, with light armament (revolver, rifle).