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Title: La Conquete De L’Air Description Le Petit Journal takes on the topic of the ‘Conquest of the Air’ and the 1910 Rheims meet. At the center is the Rheims stadium, the state for the first international aviation meeting held August 22-29, 1909. This successful meet perpetuated on the following year July 3-10, 1910. The surrounding dirigibles and lighter-than-air craft ranging from gliders to 20th century zeppelins represented progress in aviation. The influential aviators and participants from the 1910 Rheims meet are pictured at the bottom: The aviators from left to right are Captain Ferdinand Ferber, Henri Rougier, Roger Sommer, Count Charles De Lambert, Dugene Lefebvre, Glenn H. Curtiss, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Louis Bleriot, Latham, Louis Paulhan, Wilber Wright, Henry Farman, Delagrange, Paul Tissandier, Louis Charles Breguet, Henry Fournier, and Robert Esnault-Pelterie. Latham is central to the array of pictures due to his winning the 1st prize inspired by Le Petit Journal. |
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Ferdinand Ferber, a captain and artillery instructor in the French army, began constructing gliders based on the experiments of Otto Lillienthal in 1899. Influenced by the Wright brothers, Ferber built his aeroplane, the ‘No. 8’, in 1904. Later, Ferber tested a twin propeller and incorporated a fixed tail pin, an important innovation in aircraft design. Because of his contributions and inventions, Ferber is known as the great of the ‘lesser greats’ in aviation. Henri Rougier began his career as a race car driver, but eventually made his foray into the field of airplane racing, winning the Berlin Cup in 1910. Roger Sommer became interested in aviation after purchasing a biplane from Henry Farman which he fitted with his own motor and flew for a distance of six miles. Sommer beat Wilber Wright’s record for flight duration in 1909 when he remained in the air for 2 hours, 27 minutes and 15 seconds. Later that year at Rheims, Sommer impressed spectators by flying continuous laps around the airfield. Count Charles De Lambert, a Russian citizen born to French parents in the island of Madeira, invested the hydroplane and became an active aviator. On October 18, 1909, Lambert made his famous flight over the Eiffel Tower. During the 1909 Rheims meet, Lambert won fifth place in a 71 mile distance event. Eugene Lefebvre flew a Wright plane at the 1909 Rheims air meet. Lefebvre was a great crowd pleaser, earning the title ‘Rheims clown’ for his flying antics at the Rheims air show. Sadly, Lefebvre was the first French aviator killed when he lost control of his airplane on a flight to Juvisy, September 7, 1909. Glenn-Curtiss, one of the great aircraft manufacturers, designed and flew his first aircraft, the ‘June Bug’ Independence Day 1908. At the 1910 Rheims meet Glenn-Curtiss won the Gordon Bennet Trophy flying his Golden flyer biplane at 47.09 mph. Alberto Santos-Dumont, a slightly built Brazilian man, made his first balloon ascent in 1897. He then commissioned the Voisin brothers to construct the first biplane, the 14 bis. On September 13, 1906, Santos-Dumont completed the first aeroplane flight in Europe, flying 23 feet before landing heavily and damaging the aircraft. Latham, a Frenchman educated in England, was an early pioneer in aviation. Characterized as a daredevil, Latham was well known for his 1909 flight attempt over the English Channel. He succeeded in reaching an altitude of 1,000 feet before his Antoinette IV aircraft crashed into the water. Latham made a historic flight over Baltimore November 7, 1910, in conjunction with an aviation meet in Halethorpe sponsored by the Sun Paper. Leon De Lagrange began his career as a French sculptor, but in 1907 he became interested in aviation after flying a Voisin biplane. The Aero Club awarded de Lagrange a prize for his 200 meter flight and in July 1909 inducted him into the Legion d’Honneur shortly before his fatal flight January 4, 1910. Louis Paulhan began his career as an aeronautical engineer specializing in dirigibles. Paulhan’s first aeronautical achievement at Rheims garnered him a 25,000 franc prize offered by the Daily Mail for distance and established him as the ‘most spectacular bird-man in Europe’. Certainly the most famous aviator pictured, Wilber Wright, and his brother Orville made the first historic flight in an aeroplane, the Wright Flyer 1 on December 17, 1903. Paul Tissandier, the brother of Gaston Tissandier, was a balloon pilot, and airship pilot and a plane pilot. Paul began making balloon ascensions at age 25 and studied under Wilbur Wright. along with Count de Lambert, Tissandier was involved in constructing hydro-gliders. Louis Breguet flew his biplane with eleven passengers above the aerodrome at Douai on March 23, 1911, marking the first helicopter called a gyroplane. Henry Fournier, once a noted automobilist applied his talent to aviation, participating in the flight events at the 1910 Rheims meet. Robert Esnault Pelterie, a young French engineer built the first all metal plane and designed a joystick, gasoline motor, and a speedy R.E.P. II bis monoplane. During his career Pelterie was awarded 120 patents for his ingenious inventions. All the aviators pictured made notable contributions that promulgated the success of aviation in 1910. |
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