1783: 1st flight in human history. On board a hot air balloon built by the brothers Joseph and Etienne MONTGOLFIER and piloted by Pilatre DE ROZIER and the Marquis d’ARLANDES
1783: 1st flight of a gas balloon (hydrogen) from the Tuileries Garden in Paris by Jacques CHARLES and the ROBERT brothers
1797: invention of the parachute by André Charles GARNERIN author of the 1st jump in history, throwing himself into the void from a balloon
1884: invention of the airship by Charles RENARD and Arthur KREBS performing the 1st closed circuit flight in history on a principle developed by Henri GIFFARD in 1852. Their airship was electrically powered.
1890: 1st take-off of a heavier-than-air aircraft (Eole) in Paris by Clément ADER, also inventor of the word “avion”, air weapon theorist and creator of the aircraft carrier concept
1898: 1st aeronautical federation, the Aero-Club de France, founded by Ernest ARCHDEACON and Henri DEUTSCH DE LA MEURTHE
1905: first use of ailerons on an aircraft by Robert ESNAULT PELTERIE, also a pioneer in astronautics
1906: 1st homologous flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft by Alberto SANTOS DUMONT on the N°14 bis in Paris (bagatelle park)
1906: invention of the broomstick by Robert ESNAULT PELTERIE
1906: invention of the radial engine by Robert ESNAULT PELTERIE
1907: invention of the metallic structure monoplane by Robert ESNAULT PELTERIE
1907: 1st flight of a helicopter by Paul CORNU in Coquainvilliers (Normandy)
1907: 1st aeronautical factory, the aviation workshop of the VOISIN brothers in Boulogne Billancourt
1908: 1st kilometer in a closed circuit on a Voisin plane piloted by Henri FARMAN
1908: 1st city-to-city flight between Reims and Mourmelon on a Voisin plane piloted by Henri FARMAN
1908: invention of the principle of jet propulsion. Patent filed by René LORIN. The first jet aircraft built was the work of a Romanian engineer established in France: Henri COANDA with the support of Gustave EIFFEL and Paul PAINLEVE. The compressor was powered by a conventional piston engine.
1909: 1st crossing of the Channel by Louis BLERIOT
1909: 1st international air speed competition for airplanes, the DEUTSCH DE LA MEURTHE cup
1909: 1st air meeting, the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de Reims
1909: 1st flight school, opened in Pau by the Wright brothers, quickly followed in 1910 by that of the CAUDRON brothers in Le Crotoy (Normandy)
1910: 1st flight of a seaplane by Henri FABRE on the Etang de Berre
1910: 1st crossing of the Alps by Geo CHAVEZ on a Bleriot type XI aircraft
1910: 1st woman pilot Elise DEROCHE known as Baroness DE LA ROCHE (patent n°36)
1910: 1st flight simulator the “tonneau Antoinette” by Léon LEVAVASEUR
1911: 1st aviation race, Paris Madrid, won by Jules VEDRINES
1912: 1st aircraft carrier in history, the seaplane carrier “La Foudre”.
1912: 1st international air speed competition for seaplanes, the SCHNEIDER trophy
1913: 1st crossing of the Mediterranean by Roland GARROS on a Morane Saulnier type G monoplane between Fréjus (France) and Bizerte (Tunisia)
1913: invention of aerobatics by adolphe PEGOUD, author of the 1st inverted flight and the 1st loop in history. Adolphe PEGOUD is from Montferrat (Isere)
1914: invention of shooting through the propeller by Roland GARROS and Raymond SAULNIER on Morane Saulnier aircraft
1915: 1st aerial victory by Joseph FRANTZ and Louis QUENAULT on the Voisin LAS biplane. Joseph FRANTZ is from Beaujeu (Rhône)
1916: invention of the turbocharger by Auguste RATEAU
1924: 1st kilometer in closed circuit of a helicopter, device invented and piloted by Etienne OEMICHEN in Arbouans (actually Montbeliard airport)
1928: invention of the variable-pitch propeller in flight by Paulin RATIER
1930: invention of the pulse-jet engine by René LEDUC
1931: Roland PAYEN invents the delta wing (patent of November 13, 1931 with Robert SAUVAGE) and in 1935 flies the first aircraft in the world equipped with a wing of this type, the Pa100
1933: invention of the thermopropulsive nozzle (ramjet) by René LEDUC
1937: invention of the variable speed compressor by André PLANIOL and Joseph SZYDLOWSKI, also founders of Turbomeca (Bordes-France)
Note: the flight of the WRIGHT brothers in 1903 would not have been possible without the fundamental work of Captain FERBER and the help of the Franco-American engineer Octave CHANUTE. Ferdinand FERBER was born and lived in Vaise (Rhône).
In the documentary “History of Aviation” (1978) daniel COSTELLE said:
“We can never say enough about what Captain Ferdinand FERBER brought to aviation. He was like the Wrights—whose friend he was—a disciple of Lilienthal and Chanute. This polytechnician brought scientific rigor and a sense of research that marked the beginnings of aviation. Since 1901 he had been flying increasingly sophisticated gliders. In 1905 he made the first take-off in Europe of a motorized aircraft. He died too soon. »