Early aviation career
In 1910, Jacques de Lesseps became the second person to fly an aeroplane over the English Channel. His aircraft was a Blériot Type XI like the one Louis Blériot himself used for the first Channel crossing the year before. [1]
Jacques Benjamin de Lesseps was a French aviator born in Paris on 5 July 1883, killed in an air accident presumably on 18 October 1927 along with his flight engineer Theodor Chichenko. He was the son of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps. In 1910 he married Grace Mackenzie, daughter of Sir Willam Mackenzie.
In 1910, Jacques de Lesseps became the second person to fly an aeroplane over the English Channel. His aircraft was a Blériot Type XI like the one Louis Blériot himself used for the first Channel crossing the year before. [1]
De Lesseps served with distinction in the French Air Force during World War I, commanding a squadron. He joined the Compagnie Aerienne Franco-Canadienne in air survey work after the war.
He and his flight engineer, Theodor Chichenko, were lost at sea during air photography operations along the Gaspé, Quebec coastline in October 1927.
A cairn erected to his memory exists near Gaspé. It records that de Lesseps was the second man to fly the English Channel by airplane. He was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, held the Croix de Guerre and the United States Distinguished Service Cross. [2]
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of the money he made to finance his attempts to build a successful aircraft. Blériot was the first to use the combination of hand-operated joystick and foot-operated rudder control as used to the present day to operate the aircraft control surfaces. Blériot was also the first to make a working, powered, piloted monoplane. In 1909 he became world-famous for making the first airplane flight across the English Channel, winning the prize of £1,000 offered by the Daily Mail newspaper. He was the founder of Blériot Aéronautique, a successful aircraft manufacturing company.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1910:
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1909:
Gustav Wilhelm Hamel was a pioneer British aviator. He was prominent in the early history of aviation in Britain, and in particular that of Hendon airfield, where Claude Graham-White was energetically developing and promoting flying.
Antoinette was a French manufacturer of light petrol engines. Antoinette also became a pioneer-era builder of aeroplanes before World War I, most notably the record-breaking monoplanes flown by Hubert Latham and René Labouchère. Based in Puteaux, the Antoinette concern was in operation between 1903 and 1912. The company operated a flying school at Chalons for which it built one of the earliest flight simulators.
John Bevins Moisant, known as the "King of Aviators," was an American aviator, aeronautical engineer, flight instructor, businessman, and revolutionary. As a pilot, he was the first to conduct passenger flights over a city (Paris), as well as across the English Channel, from Paris to London. He also co-founded a prominent flying circus, the Moisant International Aviators.
Gabriel Voisin was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was made by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France. During World War I the company founded by Voisin became a major producer of military aircraft, notably the Voisin III. Subsequently, he switched to the design and production of luxury automobiles under the name Avions Voisin.
The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most famous accomplishments of the pioneer era of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in history but also assured the future of his aircraft manufacturing business. The event caused a major reappraisal of the importance of aviation; the English newspaper The Daily Express led its story of the flight with the headline "Britain is no longer an Island".
Blériot Aéronautique was a French aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot. It also made a few motorcycles between 1921 and 1922 and cyclecars during the 1920s.
Charles, Count de Lambert was an early European aviator.
Arthur Charles Hubert Latham was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane. Due to engine failure during his first of two attempts to cross the Channel, he became the first person to land an aeroplane on a body of water.
Major Oscar Theodor Gnosspelius was an English civil engineer and pioneer seaplane builder.
De Lesseps Field was a small, but important airfield in early aviation in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Léon Levavasseur was a French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and liquid engine cooling. Primarily associated with the Antoinette company, he continued to experiment with aircraft design after the company went bankrupt.
The Moisant Aviation School was a school in the early days of aviation founded by Alfred Moisant at Hempstead, Long Island, New York. Alfred and his brother John Bevins Moisant formed the Moisant International Aviators, a flying circus which toured the United States, Mexico and El Salvador. John had learned to fly in France with Louis Bleriot but died in 1910 in an accident. The school had six Bleriot monoplanes equipped with 50 horse power Gnome motors.
Théodore Clovis Edmond Lemartin, known as Léon Lemartin was a pioneer aviator who set a world record on 3 February 1911 at Pau, France when he carried seven passengers in a Blériot XIII Aerobus. He then took eight, eleven and thirteen passengers aloft the following month. He is also known as the world's first professional test pilot.
Alfred Leblanc was a pioneer French aviator.
The pioneer era of aviation was the period of aviation history between the first successful powered flight, generally accepted to have been made by the Wright Brothers on 17 December 1903, and the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.
Frédéric Airault was a French engineer and dirigible pilot who was technical director of a number of automobile and aviation firms before the First World War.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other |
|
  | This French biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article related to aviation is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
