THE FIRST AVIATION PIONEERS

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François Blanc AJPAE interview Toni Giacoia the first aviation pioneers book une autre histoire de l'aviation videoconference la fête de l'aviation Maxime Lenoir Gustave Whitehead Gustav Weisskopf
François Blanc interviews Toni Giacoia during La Fête de l’Aviation

Video Interview on the very first aviation pioneers

Interview video

It was on Sunday 27 September live, during La fête de l’aviation, an Aviation Day created in France this year. François Blanc, President of the Association of Professional Journalists of Aeronautics and Space (AJPAE), asked me about the first pioneers of aviation. He also spoke extensively about the book Une autre histoire de l’aviation (Another History of Aviation) which gives pride of place to Gustave Whitehead and Maxime Lenoir. The former would have flown before the Wright brothers, no less, and the latter was known as one of the best aces of the First World War before falling into oblivion. Since then, word-of-mouth must have worked, these two aviation pioneers are no longer completely unknown to enthusiasts.

Gustave Whitehead, a motorist inventor – forgotten pioneer of aviation

Book of Susan Brinchman Gustave Whitehead First in Flight O'Dwyer Toni Giacoia The first aviation pioneers
The book by Susan O’Dwyer Brinchman, Mr. Ed, quotes countless references and testimonials – Gustave Whitehead is said to have flown many times in powered flying machines between 1897 and 1902.

It was difficult to talk about all these aviation pioneers in just 44 minutes. Some of them are well known, others not, or not very well, known. Gustave Whitehead, or Gustav Weisskopf for the Germans, is one of them. The book of Susan Brinchman, M. Ed, has been very helpful in keeping the memory of this great inventor alive. She and her father Major William J. O’Dwyer studied this unique case for over five decades! Paul A. Jackson FRAeS in 2013, then editor-in-chief of Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft, declared that Gustave Whitehead had flown before the Wright brothers. It was a real thunderbolt! Karl Heigold, Charles Lautier (U.S.A., CT) and Dénys Karakaya keep researching and studying the amazing case of Gustave Whitehead along with Susan Brinchman. Artemis Media (Tilman Remme & Karen Williams, from Perth, Australia) have produced a film about Gustave Whitehead in 2016. Since then, several television channels have broadcast this film around the world.

The Gustave Whitehead gallery expands

All these factors have given renewed interest to this story. The FFGW continues to maintain a collection on Gustave Whitehead in the Leutershausen Museum. This is Gustav Weisskopf’s birthplace in Bavaria. With the help of Dr. Laura Gebauer and Dagmar Stonus, M.A. of FranKonzept GbR, the renovation of the Leutershausen Museum should be completed by 2022. This is good news as the renovation work includes more space for the collections, including replicas of the famous Number 21.

Yet Gustave Whitehead was well known

Gustav Weisskop Gustave Whitehead Numéro 21 Number Nummer Model Toni Giacoia maquette
Model of Gustave Whitehead’s Number 21 The first aviation pioneers

The history of the first aviation pioneers shows us this. Other publications have revealed the Bavarian pioneer’s prowess in America. Gustave Whitehead’s Number 21, opposite, had already attracted journalists such as those in Reader’s Digest. Much more time would have been needed to tell other stories of unknown yet formidable aviators. I briefly mentioned the first successful gliding trials in the Arab civilization. They were Abbas ibn Firnas and Al-Jauhari. Then there were many, many advances in the world up to the 20th century. Among these aviation pioneers are some illustrious names. The lesser known are in the book Une autre histoire de l’aviation – Another History of Aviation. The list of names below with links to the video excerpts:

29 historical figures cited in the interview (in French)

Information about Gustave Whitehead / Gustav Weisskopf

Gustave Whitehead – Frequently Asked Questions

Gustave Whitehead – Resources

Conference at the Aéro-Club de France on Gustave Whitehead.

Discovery about Gustave Whitehead by Jean-Luc Charles and the association Anciens Aérodromes.

The contract which binds the Smithsonian Institution to deny any flight prior to the Wright brothers’ flights.

Information about Maxime Lenoir

The Touraine native Maxime Lenoir, one of the pioneers of aviation, ace of Verdun in 1916, recipient of the Grande médaille of the Aéro-Club de France and the Gold Medal of the Aeroclub of America (link in French).

Recommended books to learn more about these aviation pioneers

Book The Wright Story Joe Bullmer Toni Giacoia The first aviation pioneers
The book The WRight Story by the American Joe Bullmer, an aeronautics expert, who makes us understand that there would be a lot to say about the Wright brothers’ supposed first flights.

I did not have time to show them all. In order to fully understand the story of Gustave Whitehead, it is necessary to read  Gustave Whitehead: First in Flight by Susan Brinchman, M. Ed; History by contract by Major William J. O’Dwyer and Stella Randolph. The History by contract site is also very informative. Joe Bullmer‘s book The WRight story demonstrates why the Wright brothers’ attempts between December 1903 and September 1905 cannot be called flights. Moreover, his arguments are very cogent. Please, this is worth reading: Kitty Hawk – 1903 – What Happened & The Wrights’ fourth flight – Mensuration. Somewhat in the same vein, there is  chapter XII of Gabriel Voisin’s Mes 10000 cerfs-volants (My 10,000 Kites) which questions the Wrights’ first Flyers.

The first aviation pioneers in the BIA ( Certificate of initiation in aerospace – in France)

I still teach that the Wright brothers were the first ones to fly because it is in the BIA program. I distinguish between my book Une autre histoire de l’aviation and the official history of the first aviation pioneers.

It all depends on the definition of flight

Every country has a position on the early pioneers of aviation. For all sorts of reasons, it can vary. It depends, of course, on the definition of flight that each country recognises. There are indeed a multitude of definitions of flight. A catapulted flight can, why not, be qualified as flight. But when people repeat that the Wright brothers were the first to identify lateral bank as the initiator of the turn, this is not true. There are about twenty pioneers in the history of science who have demonstrated this phenomenon. One of the very first was the Count of Esterno, who had already published Du vol des oiseaux: Indication des sept lois du vol ramé et des huit lois du vol à voile (The Flight of Birds: Indication of the Seven Laws of Rowing Flight and the Eight Laws of Sailflying) in 1865. Also, I mentioned Mon premier brevet aéronautique (BIA) by Jean Nicolas. As well as Blériot in Britain by Ray Sanger.

Acknowledgements

Finally, thanks to the whole team of Air Contact  and  Ciel et plume, Géraldine Galland, Magali Rebeaud, Nicolas Carof. Thanks to François Blanc for his very interesting questions. Thank you to all those who participated in La fête de l’aviation, a concept that will certainly stimulate the aeronautics community in the future.

Fête de l'aviation 2020 Géraldine Galland
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DASSAULT 100th ANNIVERSARY SHOW


« La Conquête de l’air » raconte l’histoire de l’aviation sur écran XXL

Dassault-Aviation has developed avionics and plenty of aircraft since the Eclair propeller in 1916 (interview in French, and same post in French thereafter):


100 ans de l’hélice Eclair – Bourget 2015… par Dassault-Aviation

Marcel Dassault was one of the greatest engineers in aviation history. He studied aeronautics in Paris, in the Higher Aeronautics and Mechanical Building School – now SUPAERO – in 1913, in the same entry as Mikhail Gurevitch who designed the MiG-1, MiG-15, and MiG-21. Dassault developed – as explained by Luc Berger, the Dassault-Aviation historian, in the video – a far better propeller for he had found out a lack of efficiency in the propellers of the Caudron G.3 aeroplanes. Dassault called his masterpiece « Hélice Éclair » (Lightning propeller). It is deemed to be the first line-production propeller, and the best one at that time. Georges GUYNEMER and Maxime LENOIR were among the first aces to use the Eclair on their SPAD VII and Nieuport. Dassault produced the MD 315 Flamant twin engine just after WWII. Then, came the first French fighter jet, the MD 450 Ouragan as early as 1949. Marcel Dassault used to say:

« For an airplane to fly well, it must be beautiful. »

Dassault Falcon 7X, Rafale, nEUROn
                                    Photo: DR © Editions de La Martinière

And Dassault kept building so many graceful and sleek aircraft: Mystère, Etendard, Mirage, Falcon, and of course the magnificent Rafale. Dassault has even tested a high-tech drone called nEUROn. Contrary to the common belief, three quarters of Dassault-Aviation’s production is dedicated to civilian aviation and more particularly executive jets. With a strength of 12,000, and 8,000 aircraft delivered throughout the world since 1945, Dassault is a key market player on a global scale. Dassault-Aviation is 100 years old. Paris is to foster a huge show – La Conquête de l’Air – for this major event in one of its most splendid venues – le Grand palais – from April 9th till 14th, 2016. You can book here_>>>>> For further information about Dassault history, excellent gift idea, 2 books here:_>>>>>

EN FRANÇAIS:

Dassault développe de l’avionique et de nombreux avions depuis l’hélice Eclair en 1916. (voir l’interview en français en haut de l’article)

Marcel Dassault était un des plus grands ingénieurs de l’histoire de l’aviation. Il fit ses études d’aéronautique en 1913 à Paris à l’École supérieure d’aéronautique et de construction mécanique, l’ancêtre de SUPAERO, dans la même promotion que Mikhail Gourevitch, celui même qui concevait ensuite les MiG-1, MiG-15 et MiG-21. Dassault développa (commme l’explique Luc Berger, historien spécialiste de Dassault, dans la vidéo) une bien meilleure hélice car il avait découvert sur les Caudrons G.3 un manque d’efficacité à ce niveau. Marcel Dassault baptisa son chef d’oeuvre l’hélice Éclair et elle fût sans doute la première à être produite en chaîne à cette époque. Georges GUYNEMER et Maxime LENOIR furent parmi les premiers as à utiliser l’Éclair sur leur SPAD VII et Nieuport 17. Après la guerre de 39/45, Dassault produisait le bimoteur MD 315 Flamant. Ensuite, vint le premier chasseur français à réaction, le MD 450 Ouragan, dès 1949. Jadis, Marcel Dassault disait:

« Pour qu’un avion vole bien, il faut qu’il soit beau. »

Dassault Mirage III C au Grand Palais à Paris avril 2016
                                              © Dassault Aviation – V. Almansa

Et Dassault poursuivit sa conception de tant d’avions aux lignes gracieuses et épurées: Mystère, Etendard, Mirage, Falcon, et bien sûr le magnifique Rafale. Dassault a même testé en 2012 un drone à la pointe de la technologie, le nEUROn. Contrairement aux idées reçues, les trois quarts de la productin de Dassault-Aviation’s production est tournée vers l’aviation civile et plus particulièrement les jets d’affaire. Dassault et ses 12 000 employés et qui a livré 8 000 avions depuis 1945 à travers le monde, est un acteur majeur du marché mondial.

Dassault-Aviation à l’occasion de ses 100 ans fait les choses en grand au coeur de Paris dans un show, La Conquête de l’Air, dans un de ses plus majestueux endroits, le Grand palais du 9 au 14 avril 2016. Vous pouvez réserver ici_>>>>> Pour plus d’information sur Dassault, en plus d’une excellente idée de cadeau, voici deux livres ici:_>>>>>

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PILOT’S HEROIC, TRAGIC FATE

 

Florian Rochat's book cover - The legend of Little Eagle
 Book Cover

THE LEGEND OF LITTLE EAGLE

« The Legend of Little Eagle » is a novel about destinies that intersect. It is based on a true story which involved an actual American pilot – Lieutenant LeRoy Lutz – whose warplane was hit by anti-aircraft fire while strafing a German train. He then made the decision of purposefully crashing into a clear area instead of dashing into a French village called Mardeuil in Champagne, in June 1944. He did not survive to his feat, but the villagers did.

LeRoy Lutz has been turned into « John Philippe Garreau », and LeRoy Lutz flew a P-38 Lightning whereas Garreau is on a P-51 Mustang for the novel.

Here is further information about this book from a post written by Florian Rochat – the book’s author – published in French on January 24th, 2012:

In 1999, while I was in Montana researching my novel « Cougar corridor », I discovered a letter mailed from France in 1947. It said how a pilot of the US Army Air Force, Lieutenant LeRoy Lutz, had avoided a tragedy by staying on his damaged plane in order not to fall on a small village of Champagne, Mardeuil. It was in June 1944. Having renounced the bail out option while still able to do so, Lutz (picture below) had paid with his life this heroic act. His Lightning P-38 crashed in a field.

I told in a previous article of this blog how this letter led me to write my latest novel, The Legend of Little Eagle.

But now I have found its author. His name is André Mathy and he lives in Epernay, France…

…Time passes by, History is forgotten, but for the old inhabitants of Mardeuil LeRoy Lutz is always a hero whose sacrifice helped avoid civilian casualties in their village. « This story keeps coming to my mind, » said André Mathy.

I have been able to find him, which moves me. For this endpoint in the long story that was the writing of The Legend of Little Eagle highlights a surprising phenomenon on which I return repeatedly – over the reconstruction of the life of my hero who experienced a similar fate to LeRoy Lutz – in this story in which the notion of fate is perhaps the theme: the meaning and weight of stories, as explained in several books by William Kittredge, one of the great writers of Montana. According to him, our lives are ceaselessly intertwined with narrative, with the stories that we tell or hear told, those that we dream or imagine or would like to tell, all of which are reworked in that story of our own lives that we narrate to ourselves in an episodic, somewhat semiconscious, but virtually uninterrupted monologue. We live immersed in narrative (have you noticed?) These stories allow us, according to him, to situate ourselves in the world, and find meaning in our existence in the chaos of life. « We live in stories. We are stories, »  he asserts.

“We tell stories to talk out the trouble in our lives, trouble otherwise so often so unspeakable. It is one of our main ways of making our lives sensible. Trying to live without stories can make us crazy. They help us recognize what we believe to be most valuable in the world, and help us identify what we hold demonic,” Kittredge adds.

Seventeen years ago, when he finally learned about his father’s display of courage, Richard Lutz, LeRoy’s son, declared: « I was twelve years old when my mother told me that my father had died in France. I always thought he was the bravest pilot on earth. But now I know. »

 This book has already had 4.7 stars out of 13 customer reviews on Amazon.fr. It is a breath-taking novel according to them. The readers did love Florian Rochat’s talent and style. The synopsis made them believe that it was a book on aviation. It is, with many scenes of air combat during John Philip Garreau’s missions over Germany and France. But there is more to it. As mentioned above, it mainly deals with puzzling questions on destiny and fates bound within a same tragic event. However, these readers loved reading this unbelievable story. Air combat is not swept out of sight as the act of gallantry when LeRoy Lutz veered away from the village to save lives is well highlighted. Moreover, the hero amazingly meets with a famous WWII aviator.

Many reviews, and articles have been posted about this book, especially in French since it was first written in French. Here are two of them:

https://baugelitt.eu/florian-rochat-la-legende-de-little-eagle-le-passe-tenace/

You can read Florian Rochat’s biography on Xavier Cotton’s blog « Passion pour l’Aviation« . Special thanks to Xavier who passed the information on.

« The Legend of Little Eagle » is on sale as an ebook on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.UK, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.com.au, Smashwords and other digital platforms, and as a paperback on all Amazon bookstores. Author’s website: http://www.florianrochat.com

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PREPARATION ANGLAIS OACI – BONNE NOUVELLE!

cours anglais aviation Toni Giacoia FCL .055 OACI en ligne à distance

Cours d’anglais aéronautique sur FCL ANGLAIS

Lexique aéronautique L'Anglais pour Voler
Lexique aéronautique L’Anglais pour Voler

 

Le livre (et CD-Rom) « L’Anglais pour Voler » est devenu une référence de l’anglais aéronautique et à juste titre: les 5000 mots et 1500 abréviations compilés sont présentés à la fois par ordre alphabétique et exprimés dans des chapitres thématiques qui peuvent se révéler un excellent outil d’entraînement pour les aviateurs dans leur quête du FCL .055 pour les personnels navigants et de l’ELPAC (English Language Proficiency for Aeronautical Communication) pour les contrôleurs de circulation aérienne.

 

Dominique Défossez,ingénieur en chef de la navigation aérienne, contrôleur aérien et titulaire d’une maîtrise d’anglais met régulièrement à jour son lexique et CD interactif « L’Anglais pour Voler » depuis plusieurs années déjà.

 

Voici une très bonne nouvelle pour ceux qui sont équipés d’Apple en iPhone et iPad qui souhaitent parfaire leur anglais OACI puisque L’Anglais pour Voler est désormais disponible dans une application que vous pouvez découvrir en cliquant à droite sur l’image de la couverture de cette 5ème édition:

 

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GEOTAGGING TECHNOLOGY

Yo Jude: Geotagging

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