Henri
Farman won the Deutsch-Archdeacon Prize for the first flight of more than
a kilometer on January 13, 1908. He was flying a Voisin biplane.
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Henri
Farman
Henri
Farman was a key figure in the early days of European aviation and established
several aviation "firsts." Born of English parents in Paris
in 1874, he first raced bicycles and automobiles. He was involved in a
serious auto accident and turned to aviation instead. In 1907, he ordered
his first biplane from Gabriel Voisin, a French planebuilder.
Farman
tested the plane, called the Voison-Farman I, and made several improvements.
He replaced the biplane elevator with a single elevator, gave the wings
a small dihedral, and decreased the span of the tail assembly by more
than half. With these improvements, the plane made more than 20 flights--its
longest was 2,530 feet (771 meters) in 52.6 seconds. On November 8, 1907,
Farman flew his first turn. On November 9, Farman won the Archdeacon Cup
for the first official flight of more than 150 meters (492 feet), flying
3,379 feet (1,030 meters in 1 minute and 14 seconds. This was the first
flight of more than one minute made in a non-Wright aircraft.
Farman
continued improving his plane. On January 13, 1908, he flew the first
officially observed closed circle of one kilometer in one minute, winning
the 50,000-franc Deutsch-Archdeacon prize. On May 28, he carried aviation
supporter Ernest Archdeacon aloft for more than one kilometer in the first
airplane passenger flight in Europe. In October, he installed ailerons
on all four wings. This plane made the first cross-country flight in Europe,
flying 17 miles (27 kilometers) from Bouy to Reims, on October 30, 1908,
in 20 minutes.
Farman's
greatest achievements came at the Reims International Air Meet in August
1909, with his Henri Farman III, the first aircraft produced by Farman's
factory. Powered by a 50-horsepower (37-kilowatt) Gnôme engine,
it had full ailerons and twin rudders for control as well as sprung wheels
on the skids to soften the landing. At the meet, Farman won the distance
competition by flying 111.8 miles (180 kilometers) in 3 hours, 4 minutes,
and 56 seconds. He won the Prix des Passengers carrying two passengers,
and second place in the Prix de l'Altitude by reaching an altitude of
361 feet (110 meters).
This
aircraft became one of the most famous and widely used European biplanes
before World War I. It was so widely used that, in the April 1910 London-Manchester
race, both Louis Paulhan and Claude Grahame-White flew Farman planes.
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