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[Ernest
Archdeacon] [Louis Blériot] [Samuel
Cody] [Jean Conneau] [Robert
Esnault-Pelterie] [Henry Farman]
[Roland
Garros] [Claude Grahame-White] [Gustav
Hamel] [Harry Hawker] [B.C.Hucks]
[Rosamonde de Laroche]
[Hubert
Latham] [Léon Levavasseur] [Frank
McClean] [John Moore-Brabazon] [Lord
Northcliffe] [Louis Paulhan]
[Adolphe
Pégoud] [Howard Pixton] [A.V.Roe]
[Charles Rolls] [Alberto Santos-Dumont]
[Tom Sopwith]
[Comte
de La Vaulx] [Jules Védrines] [Gabriel
Voisin] [Graf von Zeppelin]
[
]
Ernest
Archdeacon (1863-1957). Archdeacon (pronounced 'Arshdec') was a successful
lawyer, balloonist, sportsman and founder member of the Aéro-Club
de France. In 1903 he attended a lecture given by Octave Chanute on
the Wright brothers' progress in gliding flight. Galvanised by a fear that
an American and not a Frenchman would be the first to fly a practical aeroplane,
in May 1903 Archdeacon set up the Aviation Committee of the Aéro-Club.
In 1904 he experimented with a number of Wright-inspired gliders in collaboration
with Gabriel Voisin, but all proved unsuccessful.
Archdeacon also used his wealth to fund a number of prizes, all offered
in October 1904. The Coupe Ernest Archdeacon for the first flight
over 25 m (82 ft), and a cash prize of 1,500 francs for the first flight
over 100 m (328 ft) were both won by Santos-Dumont in
1906. The greatest prize was the Grand Prix d'Aviation Deutsch-Archdeacon
of 50,000 francs, jointly sponsored by Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe, for
the first circular flight over a kilometre (1,094 yards). This prize was
claimed in 1908 by Henry Farman, and on 29 May 1908
Archdeacon became the first aeroplane passenger in Europe when he made
a brief hop in his company. Archdeacon, a great patriot, was also, along
with Esnault-Pelterie and Voisin,
a leading sceptic of the Wrights' achievements in the period 1903-08.
Louis
Blériot (1872-1936). Blériot trained as an engineer,
and developed a successful automobile headlamp business, which provided
the means to finance his passion for aviation.
Between
1900 and 1909 he built (and crashed) aeroplanes of widely varying configurations
with undiminished enthusiasm - in the process gaining Pilot's Certificate
No.1 from the Aéro-Club and the respect of his fellow aviators
for personally test-flying his creations. Brief collaborations with Gabriel
Voisin and Louis Peyret produced nothing that was capable of flight.
However, in susequent years Blériot developed a workable tractor
monoplane layout, and a successful cross-country flight of 28 km (17 miles)
was made on 31 October 1908 in his Type VIII. A further collaboration with
Raymond Saulnier produced the promising Type
XI. By 1909, however, Blériot's financial position was becoming
difficult, which in part prompted him to attempt the London Daily Mail's
£1,000 prize for the first crossing of the
English Channel by aeroplane. Success on 25 July 1909 instantly restored
Blériot's finances and earned him undying fame. In August 1909 he
took part in the Rheims Meeting before retiring
from active flying to concentrate on manufacturing his designs. The Blériot
Company had a good eye for publicity and employed the brilliant stunt flier
Adolphe
Pégoud as its first demonstration pilot. The control system
adopted by Blériot (of a joystick controlling both pitch
and roll and a rudder bar for yaw)
has subsequently become the norm for all modern aircraft.
'Colonel'
Samuel F. Cody (1861-1913). In an era when the British Army was supposedly
at its most conservative, its employment of Samuel Cody as an aeronautical
designer is hard to explain. In cowboy clothes and a stetson hat, with
shoulder length hair and an extragavant moustache, the big Texan cut an
outlandish figure. It was not hard to believe he had at one time been a
performer in a travelling wild west show called 'The Klondyke Nugget' (as
he had in the 1890s). However, it was this same man whose man-lifting kite
design was accepted by the Army in 1904. Cody was subsequently retained
at Aldershot to experiment with aeroplanes. On 16 October 1908, he rewarded
his employer's faith by achieving the first flight in Britain, at Farnborough
a few miles away. His machine was a massive Wright-based biplane nick-named
The
Cathedral. Cody's outgoing personality endeared him to the public
and in 1909 he became a British citizen. In 1911, he entered the Circuit
of Britain and gallantly completed the course despite having no chance
of winning. Cody was killed in 1913 when a machine he was testing for that
year's Circuit of Britain broke up in mid-air.
Jean
Conneau (1880-1937). A lieutenant in the French Navy, Conneau was the
most brilliant racing pilot of the pre-war period. He was the victor of
three major races in 1911: the Paris-Rome race in May, the Circuit of Europe
in June, and the Circuit of Britain in July.
Because sport flying was considered unduly frivolous by the Navy he usually
flew under the pseudonym "André Beaumont", which deceived
no one! His real name and rank where even given in the newspapers. He usually
raced the Blériot XI.
His approach to flying was very different from that of his great rival,
Jules
Védrines. Conneau was careful and precise in everything he did.
This was demonstrated by his application of naval skills to navigate in
fog or cloud by compass and watch ('dead reckoning'). In 1912, he was involved
in test flying the revolutionary Donnet-Léveque
flying boat
- a machine which would prove the model for all subsequent hulled aeroplanes.
Robert
Esnault-Pelterie (1881-1957). Esnault-Pelterie trained as an engineer,
and his scientific background enabled him to design aeronautical devices
still in use today. However, his aeroplanes themselves were never that
successful, generally having inadequate control surfaces. Before Wilbur's
flights
in 1908, Esnault-Pelterie was one of the leading sceptics of the Wright
brothers' achievements. However, in 1904 he built a glider designed to
support his theories which made practical use of ailerons
for the first time. In 1907, he built a monoplane which lacked a fin or
rudder
and was consequently almost uncontrolable. Nevertheless, the radial engine
he designed to power it was sound and proved to be the prototype for all
future radial designs. His monoplane
concept was refined, with the 1909 model flying at the Rheims
Meeting, but again it was the minor details that proved to be important.
Hydraulic brakes, seat belts, steel tube construction and stress testing
are all innovations credited to Esnault-Pelterie. In 1910, a more conventional
REP monoplane was produced under licence by Vickers and in 1911 one finished
fifth in the Circuit of Europe.
Henry
Farman (1874-1958). Farman was born to English parents living in Paris
and lived almost all his life in his adopted country. He would often spell
his name 'Henri' and he spoke more French than English. At an early age
he became involved with cycle racing, and then graduated to automobiles.
He was a successful motor racer, but he gave up the sport after a bad crash
and turned to aviation, as it was 'safer.' In 1907 he bought one of the
first Voisins to be produced and taught himself to fly. He discovered he
had an aptitude for piloting and in January 1908 he won the Grand Prix
d'Aviation by making the first kilometre circuit
in Europe. He went on to set numerous altitude and endurance records and
make Europe's first cross country
flight. After falling out with the Voisin brothers, he designed his own
aeroplane, the Farman III,
which was one of the most popular early types and was widely imitated.
He participated at the Rheims Meet in 1909 where
he won the distance prize, but he then gave up active flying to
concentrate on manufacturing with his brothers Maurice and Richard.
Roland
Garros (1888-1918). Garros had been studying to become a concert pianist
when he attended the Rheims Meeting in 1909. The
result was to change his career path dramatically. He learnt to fly on
a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle
and quickly emerged as one of the leading sport pilots of the period. In
1911 he came second in both the Paris-Rome and Circuit of Europe races.
In 1913 he made an epic flight from France to Tunisia, thus making the
first aeroplane crossing of the Mediterranean
- a distance of some 453 miles. In 1914 he maintained his connection with
the sea by winning the main event at that year's Monaco seaplane meeting.
When the First World War broke out Garros became a fighter pilot, but he
was shot down and taken prisoner while testing an experimental aircraft
at the front. He escaped in 1918, only to be shot down again, this time
fatally. Roland Garros was a keen tennis player and the Paris sports club
that he belonged to named the stadium which now hosts the annual French
Open in his honour.
Claude
Grahame-White (1879-1959). Grahame-White came from a wealthy English
family and studied engineering at university. Inspired by Blériot's
Channel
crossing, he attended the Rheims Meeting in 1909
and learnt to fly, gaining British pilots certificate No.6. Grahame-White
had an infectious enthusiasm for flying and a talent for self-publicity,
which saw him become one of the most popular British pilots of the period.
In April 1910 he was the gallant loser in the Daily Mail's London-Manchester
competition, and six months later he won the Gordon Bennett Trophy for
Britain at Long Island, USA. Grahame-White established a very successful
flying school at Hendon, in north London, and produced several aeroplanes
of his own design. In 1912, he campaigned to raise awareness of aviation
in the UK by touring the country in a Farman boxkite with light bulbs spelling
out "Wake up, England!" attached to the wings. Before the First World War
he produced a 'charabanc' aeroplane, which could carry four passengers
as well as a pilot, and experimented with fitting machine guns to military
planes.
Gustav
Hamel (1889-1914). Hamel was the son of a fashionable German doctor
practising in London society. After coming down from Cambridge, he learnt
to fly in 1910 and soon became one of the most popular British pilots.
Flying a Blériot XI,
he entered the 1911 Circuit of Britain, but,
like most competitors, failed to finish. In the same year, he acted as
a pilot for Claude Grahame-White when he organised the
first air mail in Britain between Hendon and Windsor, in honour of King
George V's coronation. Hamel earned a 'dashing' reputation for often flying
with lady passengers, notably Miss Trehawke-Davies with whom he flew to
Paris on 2 April 1912. In 1913, Hamel was the third British pilot to perform
the loop (Hucks being the first), and took part in
various aerobatic displays.
He was planning an ambitious transatlantic attempt in 1914 when he disappeared
during another flight over the English Channel. With war looming, it was
popularly rumoured that he had flown back to Germany to lead bombing raids
on England. In fact a body was recovered from the sea some weeks later
which was almost certainly Hamel's.
Harry
Hawker (1889-1921). Australian Hawker came to Britain specifically
to seek a career in the infant aviation industry. In 1912, his wish was
answered and he was employed by Tommy Sopwith. Hawker
saved his wages to afford flying lessons and gained his licence in September
1912. The following month he won the British Michelin Cup with a grueling
endurance flight of 8 hr, 23 min. Sopwith recognised talent when he saw
it and Hawker was promoted to chief test pilot. In 1913, Hawker broke the
British altitude record in a Sopwith Tabloid and won the Mortimer
Singer Prize flying the amphibious Sopwith Bat Boat. He may also
have been one of the first pilots to recover from an intentional spin,
at Brooklands in June 1914. During the First World War, Hawker continued
to test Sopwith machines, and in 1919 made an unsuccessful transatlantic
attempt - being rescued by a passing steamer. He was killed in 1921 while
practising for that year's 'Aerial Derby' (round London race).
Bentfield
Charles Hucks (1884-1918). Apparently named after his birthplace of
Bentfield, Essex, Hucks was generally known as "B.C." Originally a keen
motorist, he came to aviation after being banned from driving for three
years for a speeding offence. He was taught to fly by his friend Claude
Grahame-White in 1910, and accompanied him to the USA in that year.
On his return, Hucks was engaged by the Blackburn Company to test their
new monoplane. He subsequently flew the type in the Circuit
of Britain in July 1911. In August, he made one of the first air-ground
wireless experiments in the UK at Swansea. Hucks was the first British
pilot to loop the loop (at Buc on 15 November 1913) and he subsequently
gave many aerobatic displays.
On the outbreak of war, Hucks joined the Royal Flying Corps and became
the chief test pilot for the Airco firm. In 1917 he invented the 'Hucks
Starter', a mobile device for starting aero engines. He died of pneumonia
a week before the Armistace.
[Purchase Hucks memorabilia: http://www.johnridyard.fsnet.co.uk/facsimiles.htm]
'Baronne'
Raymonde de Laroche (1885-1919). Born plain Elise Roche, de Laroche
adopted her more aristocratic stage name in order to aid her career as
an actress. However, she soon turned her back on the theatre, becoming
first an experienced balloonist and then, in October 1909, perhaps the
first woman to pilot an aeroplane anywhere in the world. Her instructor
was Charles Voisin. On 8 March 1910, de Laroche qualified
for the first pilot's certificate to be awarded to a woman (No.36 of France).
In July of that year, she competed in the Prix des Dames at the
1910 Rheims Week, but was seriously injured in a bad crash. However, she
recovered to win the French Aero Club's Coupe Femina twice for long-distance
flights in 1912 and 1913. In 1919, this Magnificent Woman held both
the female altitude (4800 m/15,750 ft) and distance (323 km/200 mi.) records,
before being tragically killed in July while co-piloting an experimental
aircraft.
Hubert
Latham (1883-1912). With something of the reputation of an international
playboy, Latham was briefly one of the most colourful characters in early
aviation. He was French, although with English grandparents on his father's
side, and he studied at Oxford before making his home in France. In 1908
he witnessed Wilbur Wright's flight at Le Mans
and asked his friend, Leon Levavasseur, to teach him to fly. Subsequently,
he became Levavasseur's chief pilot and flew his Antoinette
monoplanes to good effect during the breakthrough year of 1909. In that
year he was unlucky to lose out to Louis Blériot
in the race to cross the English Channel, but
he performed well at the Rheims Meeting - winning
over 40,000 francs in prize money. He is generally thought to have been
gored to death by a buffalo in 1912 while big game hunting in the Congo,
but there is also evidence of foul play... [Read
more about Latham's death]
Léon
Levavasseur (1863-1922). Levavasseur's early training was as a painter
but he quickly turned to engineering instead, much to European aviation's
benefit. In 1903 he designed an unsuccessful biplane, but in the same year
he produced an innovative light engine. The 24 hp and 50 hp versions of
the Antoinette featured evaporative cooling and fuel injection,
and were designed specifically with aviation in mind. The motors powered
both Santos-Dumont and Gabriel Voisin's
early designs and so formed the bedrock of European success. In 1907, Levavasseur
was the designer behind the Gastambide-Mengin monoplane, and it
was this design which formed the basis of his successful and elegant Antoinette
IV of 1909. In that year, Levavasseur's friend Hubert
Latham almost snatched glory from Blériot
by crossing the Channel first in an
early IV. The type subsequently enjoyed widespread popularity. In
1911, Levavasseur submitted his futuristic Monobloc Antoinette
for military trials, but the excellent concept was marred by insufficient
engine power. It failed to fly and the Antoinette Company's fortunes declined,
with bankruptcy following. But Léon Levavasseur's place in history
was already assured.
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