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Flight of the first heavier-than-air aircraft
Flight of the first heavier-than-air aircraft
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Clément Ader, engineer and electrical and mechanical inventor, was fascinated by the idea of mechanical flight and spent a lot of time and money to make it come true. In 1886 he built his first aircraft which was called Éole also known as Avion (French for aeroplane).
It was a bat-like apparatus driven by a light steam engine of his own design (4 cylinders, power 20 hp (15 kW). It was controlled by a propeller with four blades. The wings were equipped with a wing warp system and the total weight was about 300 kg.
On October 9, 1890 Ader was able to take off on this device and flew about 50 m. That is considered the first take-off of an aircraft in history, made only due to the thrust of its own power plant.
Improving his device, after 7 years he could overcome 300 m already. But his apparatus had no control, and further experiments were stopped.
In France Clément Ader is considered the designer of the world's first aircraft.
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