Flying high
Posted on Lundi 10 août 2009 at 16 h 35 min and filed under Magazine.Among the spectacular displays at the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace at Le Bourget, six aircraft were true trailblazers. By Marc Branchu
Blériot XI, the pioneer This 310-kg “kite” had canvas wings, an engine barely able to propel the plane at 100 kph and an ash frame braced with piano wire. It had flight controls, but no aileron: to turn, the pilot had to warp the wings. Louis Blériot crossed the English Channel on July 25, 1909, aboard a similar aircraft; the original is on display at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris.
Breguet XIV, the heavy-lifter Designed in 1916 for the French army, this biplane was rugged and reliable. After the war, hundreds of pilots learned to fly aboard this workhorse, and Aéropostale used it to explore Spain, Africa and then South America. One day, in January 1925, Paul Vachet, a tireless reconnaissance pilot, was caught in a storm. The canvas on one of the wings of his Breguet XIV ripped, but his wife patched it up with a sheet and saved the mission.
Farman Goliath, the flying bus A bomber converted for commercial transportation, this aircraft was one of the first to carry passengers: a maximum of 12 people, plus a two-member crew. Lucien Bossoutrot made history on February 8, 1919. Flying a Farman Goliath, he transported a dozen soldiers from Paris to London. This was the first international passenger flight.
Bernard 191 “Oiseau Canari” With nine tanks (holding over 3,000 liters of fuel), the Bernard 191 was a flying gas tank, designed for distance. In 1929—two years after Lindbergh—Assollant, Lotti and Lefèvre became the first French pilots to cross the North Atlantic from west to east, aboard a “Oiseau Canari” (Canary Bird) version of the aircraft. Despite efforts to keep the weight down, the pilots discovered a stowaway immediately after takeoff: journalist Arthur Schreiber. Because of this extra load, the plane nearly ran out of gas. Fortunately, the crew was able to land near Santander in northern Spain after a 29-hour, 22-minute flight.
Douglas DC-3, the plane of the century When this all-metal aircraft came out in 1935, it flew faster, higher and farther, and carried more passengers (21, as opposed to 10 for the Boeing 247) than any other plane. It was the best-selling aircraft of all time (13,000 models), and some are still flying to this day. Engineer Donald Douglas had dreamed of starting his own company. A California athlete gave him $40,000 to build a plane that could fly cross-country; it was never completed, but the project led to the creation of the Douglas Aircraft Company, which developed some of the greatest flying machines in history, including the DC-3 and the DC-8.
Boeing 747, the jumbo For decades, before it was unseated by the A380, the B747 was the largest civilian aircraft ever built. Nicknamed the Jumbo, it can carry from 366 to 524 passengers, depending on the configuration. The widebody turned 40 last February. Since 1990, the U.S. president travels in one of two B747s. The presidential section of Air Force One has a bedroom and sitting room; a bathroom with a shower; a large office; a dining room that can seat four people; two kitchens; a conference room, and medical equipment, including an operating table and X-ray machine.
Translation: Elizabeth Ayre, Lisa Davidson et Alexandra Keens
