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Léon Levavasseur
Léon Levavasseur (8 January 1863 – 26 February 1922) was a French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and liquid engine cooling. Primarily associated with the Antoinette company, he continued to experiment with aircraft design after the company went bankrupt. Early life Levavasseur was born in Le Mesnil-au-Val, Cherbourg, France to a naval officer. Initially studying fine arts, Levavasseur switched to studying engineering, with a particular interest in arc lamps and petrol engines. The Antoinette company The engine enterprise and incorporation In the summer of 1902, Levavasseur suggested to industrialist Jules Gastambide that powerful, lightweight engines would be necessary for powered flight, and proposed the manufacture of these engines. He also proposed that the engines be named after Gastambide's daughter, Antoinette. Gastambide financed the venture. Levavasseur patented ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Mesnil-au-Val
Le Mesnil-au-Val () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 445 communes of the Manche department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Mesnilauval {{Cherbourg-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petrol Engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as '' E10'' and '' E85''). They may be designed to run on petrol with a higher octane rating, as sold at petrol stations. Most petrol engines use spark ignition, unlike diesel engines which run on diesel fuel and typically use compression ignition. Another key difference to diesel engines is that petrol engines typically have a lower compression ratio. History The first practical petrol engine was built in 1876 in Germany by Nicolaus August Otto and Eugen Langen, although there had been earlier attempts by Étienne Lenoir in 1860, Siegfried Marcus in 1864 and George Brayton in 1873. Design Thermodynamic cycle Most petrol engines use either the four-stroke Otto cycle or the two-stroke cycle. Petrol engines have also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antoinette IV
The Antoinette IV was an early French monoplane. Design and development The Antoinette IV was a high-wing aircraft with a fuselage of extremely narrow triangular cross-section and a cruciform tail. Power was provided by a V8 engine of Léon Levavasseur's own design driving a paddle-bladed tractor propeller. Lateral control was at first effected with large triangular, and shortly afterwards trapezoidal-planform ailerons hinged to the trailing edge of the wings, although wing-warping was substituted at an early stage in flight trials, and in this type proved more effective. On 19 February 1909, the Antoinette IV flew at Mourmelon-le-Grand, and on 19 July, Hubert Latham attempted to cross the English Channel in it, covering out of Sangatte before making a forced water landing due to engine failure. On 3 October 1910, Frenchman René Thomas, flying the Antoinette IV, collided with British Army Captain Bertram Dickson by ramming his Farman III biplane in the rear. Both pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeroplane
An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectrum of uses for airplanes includes recreation, air transportation, transportation of goods and people, military aviation, military, and Experimental aircraft, research. Worldwide, commercial aviation transports more than four billion passengers annually on airliners and transports more than 200 billion tonne-kilometersMeasured in RTKs—an RTK is one tonne of revenue freight carried one kilometer. of cargo annually, which is less than 1% of the world's cargo movement. Most airplanes are flown by a pilot on board the aircraft, but some are designed to be unmanned aerial vehicle, remotely or computer-controlled such as drones. The Wright brothers invented and flew the Wright Flyer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Bennett Trophy (aeroplanes)
The Gordon Bennett Aviation Trophy is an international airplane racing trophy that was awarded by James Gordon Bennett Jr., the American owner and publisher of the '' New York Herald'' newspaper. The trophy is one of three Gordon Bennett awards: Bennett was also the sponsor of an automobile race and a ballooning competition. The terms of the trophy competition were the same as those of the Schneider Trophy: each race was hosted by the nation which had won the preceding race, and the trophy would be won outright by the nation whose team won the race three times in succession. Accordingly, after Joseph Sadi-Lecointe's victory in 1920 the trophy became the permanent possession of the Aéro-Club de France. History Following the success of the Gordon Bennett balloon competition, which had become the most important competition for the sport, Gordon Bennett announced a competition for powered aircraft in December 1908, commissioning a trophy from André Aucoc, the sculptor who ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reims, France
Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by the Gauls, Reims became a major city in the Roman Empire. Reims later played a prominent ceremonial role in French monarchical history as the traditional site of the coronation of the kings of France. The royal anointing was performed at the Cathedral of Reims, which housed the Holy Ampulla of chrism allegedly brought by a white dove at the baptism of Frankish king Clovis I in 496. For this reason, Reims is often referred to in French as ("the Coronation City"). Reims is recognized for the diversity of its heritage, ranging from Romanesque to Art-déco. Reims Cathedral, the adjacent Palace of Tau, and the Abbey of Saint-Remi were listed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 because of their outstanding Romanesque and Got ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grande Semaine D'Aviation De La Champagne
The ''Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne'' was an eight-day aviation meeting held near Reims in France in 1909, so-named because it was sponsored by the major local champagne growers. It is celebrated as the first international public flying event, confirming the viability of heavier-than-air flight. It marked the first contest for the prestigious Gordon Bennett Trophy, sponsored by Gordon Bennett, publisher of the ''New York Herald'', won by American Glenn Curtiss in competition with Louis Bleriot. The meeting saw the breaking of the world record for distance, a flight of 180 km (110 mi) by Henri Farman, as well as the debut of the lightweight Gnome engine, which would achieve much acclaim. Grande Semaine de la Champagne Tribunes from the sky . The ''Grand Semaine d'Aviation'', held between 22 August and 29 August 1909, was sponsored by many of the leading makers of champagne including Moët et Chandon and Mumm and organised by a committee headed by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legion Of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was originally established in 1802 by Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte, and it has been retained (with occasional slight alterations) by all later French governments and regimes. The order's motto is ' ("Honour and Fatherland"); its Seat (legal entity), seat is the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur next to the Musée d'Orsay, on the left bank of the Seine in Paris. Since 1 February 2023, the Order's grand chancellor has been retired General François Lecointre, who succeeded fellow retired General Benoît Puga in office. The order is divided into five degrees of increasing distinction: ' (Knight), ' (Officer), ' (Commander (order), Commander), ' (Grand Officer) and ' (Grand Cross). History Consulate During the French Revolution, all ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, highest circulation of paid newspapers in the UK. Its sister paper ''The Mail on Sunday'' was launched in 1982, a Scotland, Scottish edition was launched in 1947, and an Ireland, Irish edition in 2006. Content from the paper appears on the MailOnline online newspaper, news website, although the website is managed separately and has its own editor. The paper is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, a great-grandson of one of the original co-founders, is the chairman and controlling shareholder of the Daily Mail and General Trust, while day-to-day editorial decisions for the newspaper are usually made by a team led by the editor. Ted Verity succeeded Geordie Greig as editor on 17 November 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busiest Sea lane, shipping area in the world. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover."English Channel". ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 2004. It is the smallest of the shallow seas around the continental shelf of Europe, covering an area of some . The Channel aided the United Kingdom in becoming a naval superpower, serving as a natural defence against invasions, such as in the Napoleonic Wars and in the World War II, Second World War. The northern, English coast of the Channel is more populous than the southern, French coast. The major languages spoken in this region are English language, English and French language, French. Names Roman historiography, Roman sources as (or , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hubert Latham
Arthur Charles Hubert Latham (10 January 1883 – 25 June 1912) was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane. Due to engine failure during his first of two attempts to cross the Channel, he became the first person to Water landing#In distress, land an aeroplane on a body of water. In August 1909 at the ''Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne'' he set the world altitude record of in his Antoinette IV. In April 1910 he set the official World Airspeed Record of in his Antoinette VII. Early life Latham was born in Paris into a wealthy Protestant family. His French mother's family were the bankers, ''Mallet Frères et Cie'', and his father, Lionel Latham, was the son of Charles Latham, an English merchant adventurer and trader of indigo and other commodities, who had settled in Le Havre in 1829. Hubert Latham's English grand-uncles were mercantile traders, merchant bankers and lawyers in the City of London a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferdinand Ferber
Louis Ferdinand Ferber (8 February 1862 – 22 September 1909) was a French Army officer who played an important role in the development of aviation during the early 1900s. Although his aircraft experiments were belatedly successful, his early recognition and publicizing of the work of the Wright Brothers was a major influence on the development of aviation in Europe. Early life Born in Lyon in 1862, he studied at the Ecole Polytechnique before joining the Army, eventually becoming an instructor the School of Applied Artillery at Fontainbleau in 1897. It was here that he came across the work of Otto Lilienthal, through reading about his work in an article in the '' Illustrierte Zeitung.'' Aviation experiments Early attempts After some experimentation with models Ferber constructed his first full-size unmanned glider, which had a lozenge-shaped wing about across, and unsuccessfully attempted to fly it from a launching tower at his family's estate in Rue in Switzerland in Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
