Difference between revisions of "Clément Ader"

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'''Clément Agnès Ader''' (1841–) was a aero inventor and electrical engineer from Muret (near Toulouse).  
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'''Clément Agnès Ader''' (1841–1925) was a aero inventor and electrical engineer from Muret (near Toulouse).  
  
 
After graduating from the Institution Assiot, a specialized engineering school in Toulouse, he went to work for a railroad company. Then he began designing vélocipèdes and formed the company Véloces-Caoutchouc Clément Ader.<ref>[[Hallion, 2003]], p. 127.</ref>
 
After graduating from the Institution Assiot, a specialized engineering school in Toulouse, he went to work for a railroad company. Then he began designing vélocipèdes and formed the company Véloces-Caoutchouc Clément Ader.<ref>[[Hallion, 2003]], p. 127.</ref>
  
Ader began work on aviation after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. First he created an unsuccessful human-powered ornithopter. Then he began work on gliders but didn't follow through and went into electricity and the emerging telephone. This paid off well, but he maintained his interest in aeronautics, traveling to Strasbourg to study storks and Algeria (where he met [[Louis-Pierre Mouillard]]) to study vultures. In 1895 he hired [[Éloi Vallier]] and [[Louis Espinosa]] as assistants. By 1890 they had constructed a vessel called ''Éole'', featuring bat-shaped wings and a 20-horsepower engine constructed in-house. This is called the first airplane. The ''Éole'' was tested on 9 October 1890 might have lifted off the ground a little on a runway. Ader much later made an unproven claim that he had flown at Satory in September 1891.<ref>[[Hallion, 2003]], pp. 128–131. "This airplane—the first in history, though certainly unsuccessful—featured a lightweight 20-horsepower steam engine of his own design, powerful enough (producing one horsepower per ten pounds of engine weight, a remarkable figure for the day) to propel it off level ground. Therefore, despite the lack of success he shared with all pre-Wright predecessors, Ader is due all credit for inventing the first significant powered airplane."</ref>
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Ader began work on aviation after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. First he created an unsuccessful human-powered ornithopter. This vessel weighed 20 kg (with no pilot) and had wing surface of 9 m².<ref>[[Lissarrague, 1990, Clément Ader]], pp. 45–48.</ref>
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Then he began work on gliders but didn't follow through and went into electricity and the emerging telephone. This paid off well, but he maintained his interest in aeronautics, traveling to Strasbourg to study storks and Algeria (where he met [[Louis-Pierre Mouillard]]) to study vultures. In 1895 he hired [[Éloi Vallier]] and [[Louis Espinosa]] as assistants. By 1890 they had constructed a vessel called ''Éole'', featuring bat-shaped wings and a 20-horsepower engine constructed in-house. This is called the first airplane. The ''Éole'' was tested on 9 October 1890 might have lifted off the ground a little on a runway. Ader much later made an unproven claim that he had flown at Satory in September 1891.<ref>[[Hallion, 2003]], pp. 128–131. "This airplane—the first in history, though certainly unsuccessful—featured a lightweight 20-horsepower steam engine of his own design, powerful enough (producing one horsepower per ten pounds of engine weight, a remarkable figure for the day) to propel it off level ground. Therefore, despite the lack of success he shared with all pre-Wright predecessors, Ader is due all credit for inventing the first significant powered airplane."</ref>
  
 
Ader successfully solicited support from the French military and designed more aircraft in 1891–1892: the ''Avion II'' a.k.a. ''Zéphyr'' and the ''Avion III''' a.k.a. ''Aquilon''. On 3 February 1892 he optimistically signed a 550,000 contract to provide the military with a heavier-than-air bomber which could travel at 35 miles per hour. He brought forth a craft in 1897 and demonstrated it in October. It didn't fly. Ader was quietly cut off.<ref>[[Hallion 2003]], pp. 133–134.</ref>
 
Ader successfully solicited support from the French military and designed more aircraft in 1891–1892: the ''Avion II'' a.k.a. ''Zéphyr'' and the ''Avion III''' a.k.a. ''Aquilon''. On 3 February 1892 he optimistically signed a 550,000 contract to provide the military with a heavier-than-air bomber which could travel at 35 miles per hour. He brought forth a craft in 1897 and demonstrated it in October. It didn't fly. Ader was quietly cut off.<ref>[[Hallion 2003]], pp. 133–134.</ref>

Revision as of 16:55, 18 March 2017

Clément Agnès Ader (1841–1925) was a aero inventor and electrical engineer from Muret (near Toulouse).

After graduating from the Institution Assiot, a specialized engineering school in Toulouse, he went to work for a railroad company. Then he began designing vélocipèdes and formed the company Véloces-Caoutchouc Clément Ader.[1]

Ader began work on aviation after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. First he created an unsuccessful human-powered ornithopter. This vessel weighed 20 kg (with no pilot) and had wing surface of 9 m².[2]

Then he began work on gliders but didn't follow through and went into electricity and the emerging telephone. This paid off well, but he maintained his interest in aeronautics, traveling to Strasbourg to study storks and Algeria (where he met Louis-Pierre Mouillard) to study vultures. In 1895 he hired Éloi Vallier and Louis Espinosa as assistants. By 1890 they had constructed a vessel called Éole, featuring bat-shaped wings and a 20-horsepower engine constructed in-house. This is called the first airplane. The Éole was tested on 9 October 1890 might have lifted off the ground a little on a runway. Ader much later made an unproven claim that he had flown at Satory in September 1891.[3]

Ader successfully solicited support from the French military and designed more aircraft in 1891–1892: the Avion II a.k.a. Zéphyr and the Avion III' a.k.a. Aquilon. On 3 February 1892 he optimistically signed a 550,000 contract to provide the military with a heavier-than-air bomber which could travel at 35 miles per hour. He brought forth a craft in 1897 and demonstrated it in October. It didn't fly. Ader was quietly cut off.[4]

Samuel P. Langley visited Ader's workshop in July and August 1899. Langley got along well with Ader but didn't think much of his airplane: "The 'Avion' is simply a gigantic bat, plus steam engine and propellers . . . It seemed to me that the 'Avion', as constructed, had no chance of moving in the air for a single minute without disaster."[5]

Ader later wrote a popular book called L'Aviation militaire ("Military Aviation"; 1908, followed by multiple editions), as well as another one called La Première Étape de l'aviation militaire française ("The First Stage of French Military Aviation"; 1907).

Patents applied for by Clément Ader

Letters sent by Clément Ader

Letters received by Clément Ader

References

  1. Hallion, 2003, p. 127.
  2. Lissarrague, 1990, Clément Ader, pp. 45–48.
  3. Hallion, 2003, pp. 128–131. "This airplane—the first in history, though certainly unsuccessful—featured a lightweight 20-horsepower steam engine of his own design, powerful enough (producing one horsepower per ten pounds of engine weight, a remarkable figure for the day) to propel it off level ground. Therefore, despite the lack of success he shared with all pre-Wright predecessors, Ader is due all credit for inventing the first significant powered airplane."
  4. Hallion 2003, pp. 133–134.
  5. Langley Papers, box 27, quoted in Hallion, 2003, p. 135.