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Clément Ader | ||
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Ader Avion III
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| Clément Ader, (b. Feb. 4, 1841, Muret, France--d. March 5, 1926, Toulouse) was an early enthusiast of aviation who constructed a balloon at his own expense during the Franco-German War of 1870-71. In 1876 he quit his job in the Administration of Bridges and Highways to make more money to support his hobby. His early inventions in electrical-communications included a microphone and a public-address device. 1 | |||
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He then focused on the problem of heavier-than-air flying machines and in 1890 built a steam-powered, bat-winged monoplane, which he named the Eole. On October 9 he flew it a distance of 50 m (160 feet) on a friend's estate near Paris. The steam engine was unsuitable for sustained and controlled flight, which required the gasoline engine; nevertheless, Ader's short hop was the first demonstration that a manned heavier-than-air machine could take off from level ground under its own power.
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Between 1894 and 1897 Clément Ader built a larger but still 'batlike' twin screw machine which he named the Avion (Ed.) 3 | |||
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December 1, 2009.