The Aéro-Club de France () was founded as the Aéro-Club on 20 October 1898 as a society 'to encourage aerial locomotion' by

Ernest Archdeacon Ernest Archdeacon (23 March 1863 – 3 January 1950) was a French lawyer and aviation pioneer before the First World War. He made his first balloon flight at the age of 20. He commissioned a copy of the 1902 Wright No. 3 glider but ha ...

Léon Serpollet Léon Serpollet (4 October 1858 – 1 February 1907) was a French engineer and developer of flash steam boilers and steam automobiles. Léon Serpollet was born in Culoz, in the Ain department of France in 1859, son of the carpenter Auguste ...

, Henri de la Valette,

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

and his wife,

André Michelin André Jules Michelin (16 January 1853 – 4 April 1931) was a French industrialist who, with his brother Édouard (1859–1940), founded the Michelin Tyre Company (''Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin'') in 1888 in the French ...

, Albert de Dion,

Alberto Santos-Dumont Alberto Santos-Dumont (Santos Dumont, Minas Gerais, Palmira, 20 July 1873 — Guarujá, 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aeronaut, sportsman, inventor, and one of the few people to have contributed significantly to the early development of both l ...

Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe (; 25 September 1846 – 24 November 1919), born Salomon Henry Deutsch, was a successful French petroleum businessman (known as the "Oil King of Europe"Howard, Fred, ''Wilbur & Orville: A Biography'', Dover Publicati ...

, and

Henry de La Vaulx Henry de La Vaulx (1870–1930), was a balloonist, author, and cofounder of major French and international aeronautical associations. Biography He was born in Bierville, France on April 2, 1870. From March 1896 to May 1897 he stayed with nativ ...

. On 20 April 1909, its name was changed to ''Aéro-Club de France''. The Aéro-Club de France originally set many of the regulations that controlled aviation in France. From its formation it also set the rules that have marked some of the 'firsts' in aviation, such as the first closed-circuit flight of over 1 km and the first helicopter flight, and has organised competitions including: * the Prix Deutsch de la Meurthe, a challenge for

dirigibles An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early d ...

from 1901 * the Gordon Bennett Cup for fixed-wing aircraft in 1909 The club published the journal ''

L'Aérophile ''L’Aérophile'' ("The Aerophile") was a French aviation magazine published from 1893 to 1947. It has been described as "the leading aeronautical journal of the world" around 1910. History and contents ''L’Aérophile'' was founded and ru ...

'' from 1898 to 1947, and since 1997 publishes the magazine ''Aérofrance''. The Aéro-Club de France was a founding member of the

International Aeronautical Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(FAI) in 1905, a joint effort with other national associations. After 1945, some of the Aéro-Club's regulatory roles were taken by other bodies. It now focusses on the promotion of aviation and certification.

Medal

The Club grants the Great Medal of the Aéro-Club de France to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of aviation. The winners have been: * 2006 - The flight test team of the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

and the

Dassault Falcon 7X The Dassault Falcon 7X is a large-cabin, range business jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation, the second largest of its Dassault Falcon line. Launched at 2001 Paris Air Show, its first flight was on 5 May 2005 and it entered service on 15 Jun ...

* 2005 - Pierre Guyoti * 2004 - At the retirement of

Concorde The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

, the heads of

EADS Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

and

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

* 2003 -

Steve Fossett James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...

* 2002 - The astronauts of the Andromeda mission * 2000 -

Jean-Pierre Haigneré Jean-Pierre Haigneré (born 19 May 1948) is a French Air Force officer and a former CNES spationaut. Jean-Pierre Haigneré was born in Paris, France, and joined the French Air Force, where he trained as a test pilot. He flew on two missions ...

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

astronaut * 1998 - Bertrand Piccard, of the

Breitling Orbiter 3 ''Breitling Orbiter'' was the name of three different Rozière balloons made by the Bristol based balloon manufacturer Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe, named after the Swiss watchmakers Breitling. The third was successful in Marc ...

balloon * 1997 -

Claudie Haigneré Claudie (André-Deshays) Haigneré (born 13 May 1957) is a French doctor, politician and former astronaut with the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (1985–1999) and the European Space Agency (1999–2002). Background and training Born in ...

Shannon Lucid Shannon Wells Lucid (born January 14, 1943) is an American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut. At one time, she held the record for the longest duration stay in space by an American and by a woman. She has flown in space five times including ...

Yelena Kondakova Yelena Vladimirovna Kondakova (russian: link=no, Елена Владимировна Кондакóва; born March 30, 1957) is the third Soviet or Russian female cosmonaut to travel to space and the first woman to make a long-duration spaceflig ...

* 1996 -

Jules Roy Jules Roy (22 October 1907 – 15 June 2000) was a French writer. "Prolific and polemical" Roy, born an Algerian pied noir and sent to a Roman Catholic seminary, used his experiences in the French colony and during his service in the Royal Air For ...

, author * 1995 -

Serge Dassault Serge Dassault (; born Serge Paul André Bloch; 4 April 1925 – 28 May 2018) was a French engineer, businessman and politician. He was the chairman and chief executive officer of Dassault Group, and a conservative politician. According to ' ...

* 1994 -

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the ...

* 1988 - Jean Salis,

Chuck Yeager Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the ...

* 1986 -

Patrick Baudry Patrick Pierre Roger Baudry (born March 6, 1946 in Cameroon) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the French Air Force and a former CNES astronaut. In 1985, he became the second French citizen in space, after Jean-Loup Chrétien, when he flew aboar ...

* 1981 -

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...

Robert Crippen Robert Laurel Crippen (born September 11, 1937) is an American retired naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and retired astronaut. He traveled into space four times: as Pilot of STS-1 in April 1981, the first Space Shuttl ...

* 1970 -

Jim Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...

Jack Swigert John Leonard Swigert Jr. (August 30, 1931 – December 27, 1982) was an American NASA astronaut, test pilot, mechanical engineer, aerospace engineer, United States Air Force pilot, and politician. In April 1970, as command module pilot of Apollo ...

Fred Haise Fred Wallace Haise Jr. ( ; born November 14, 1933) is an American former NASA astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force, and a test pilot. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, having f ...

* 1969 -

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

* 1967 -

Adrienne Bolland Adrienne Bolland, born Boland, (25 November 1895 – 18 March 1975) was a French test pilot. She was the first woman to fly over the Andes between Chile and Argentina. She was later described as "France's most accomplished female aviator", set ...

, Élisabeth Boselli,

Marcel Dassault Marcel Dassault (born Marcel Ferdinand Bloch; 23 January 1892 – 17 April 1986) was a French engineer and industrialist who spent his career in aircraft manufacturing. Early life and education Born on 23 January 1892 in Paris, he was the young ...

Didier Daurat Didier Daurat (2 January 1891, Montreuil-sous-Bois – 2 December 1969, Toulouse) was a pioneer of French aviation. He was a fighter pilot during World War I, distinguishing himself by spotting the Paris Gun which was pounding Paris. After th ...

, Jean Lasserre, Georges Libert,

Henry Potez Henry Potez (Méaulte, 30 September 1891 – Paris, 9 November 1981) was a French aircraft industrialist. He studied in the French Aeronautics School '' Supaéro''. With Marcel Dassault, he was the inventor of the Potez-Bloch propeller which, aft ...

* 1963 - Jacqueline Auriol * 1958 -

Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin (5 February 1880 – 25 December 1973) was a French aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, which was made ...

* 1938 -

Henri Guillaumet Henri Guillaumet (29 May 1902 – 27 November 1940) was a French aviator. Guillaumet was born in Bouy, Marne. He was a pioneer of French aviation in the Andes, the South Atlantic and the North Atlantic. He contributed to the opening up o ...

Paul Tissandier Paul Tissandier (19 February 1881 – 11 March 1945) was a French aviator. Biography Tissandier was the son of aviator Gaston Tissandier and nephew of Albert Tissandier, Gaston's brother. Tissandier began his flying career as a hot air balloo ...

* 1937 -

Maryse Bastié Maryse Bastié (27 February 1898 – 6 July 1952) was a French aviator who set several international records for female aviators during the 1930s. Early life She was born Marie-Louise Bombec in Limoges, Haute-Vienne; Bastié's father died ...

* 1931 -

Maurice Noguès Maurice Noguès (31 October 1889 – 15 January 1934) was a French aviator from Brittany. Biography Noguès was born in Rennes, to Marthe Vallée and Émile Noguès; his father was a Colonel in the artillery. He taught himself to fly in 1909, an ...

* 1930 -

Jean Mermoz Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

Maurice Bellonte Maurice Bellonte (Méru, Oise, 25 October 1896 – Paris, 14 January 1983) was a French aviator who set flight distance records. Associated with Dieudonné Costes, in 1930 he performed the first westbound crossing of the North Atlantic fr ...

* 1928 - Joseph Le Brix * 1927 -

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

* 1923 -

Louis Bréguet Louis Charles Breguet (2 January 1880 in Paris – 4 May 1955 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Île-de-France) was a French aircraft designer and builder, one of the early aviation pioneers. Biography Louis Charles Breguet was the grandson of Lo ...

Pierre-Georges Latécoère Pierre-Georges Latécoère (; 1883–1943) was a pioneer of aeronautics. Born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, he studied in the École Centrale Paris and, during the First World War, started a business in aeronautics. He directed plants that made ...

Dieudonné Costes Dieudonné Costes (14 November 1892 – 18 May 1973) was a French aviator who set flight distance records. He was also a fighter ace during World War I. Early life and military service Costes was born in Septfonds, Tarn-et-Garonne. He receiv ...

* 1922 -

Clément Ader Clément Ader (2 April 1841 – 3 May 1925) was a French inventor and engineer who was born near Toulouse in Muret, Haute-Garonne, and died in Toulouse. He is remembered primarily for his pioneering work in aviation. In 1870 he was also one of t ...

* 1920 -

Joseph Sadi-Lecointe Joseph Sadi-Lecointe (1891 – 1944) was a French aviator, best known for breaking a number of speed and altitude records in the 1920s. Biography Sadi-Lecointe was born on 11 July 1891 at Saint-Germain-sur-Bresle. He learned to fly at the Ze ...

* 1917 - Warrant Officer Lucien Jailles, Sergeant Walter Lovell, Warrant Officer

Raoul Lufbery Gervais Raoul Victor Lufbery (March 14, 1885 – May 19, 1918) was a French and American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both the French Air Force, and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, ...

, Archibald Johnson, Willis Haviland, Captain

Georges Thenault Lieutenant Colonel Georges Thenault () (15 December 1887 – 19 December 1948) was the commander of the Lafayette Escadrille – the famed branch of the French air force in World War I composed of American volunteer pilots. The Lafayette Escadri ...

, Warrant Officer Harold Willis, Second Lieutenant

Henri Languedoc ''Sous lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Au ...

, Lieutenant J.A. Tourtay, Second Lieutenant Hector Varlin, Second Lieutenant William Thaw, Lieutenant Albert Dullin, Captains

Alfred Heurtaux Alfred Marie-Joseph Heurtaux (20 May 1893 – 30 December 1985) was a French World War I fighter ace credited with 21 victories. Later in his life, he joined the French Resistance during World War II, and survived imprisonment in Buchenwald death ...

and

Georges Guynemer Georges Guynemer (, 24 December 1894 – 11 September 1917 MIA) was the second highest-scoring French fighter ace with 54 victories during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death. Guynemer's death was a profound s ...

, Second Lieutenant

Paul Tarascon Colonel Paul Albert Pierre Tarascon (8 December 1882 – 11 June 1977) was a World War I flying ace. Despite the handicap of an amputated foot, he was credited with twelve confirmed and ten probable victories in aerial combat. He also served in Wo ...

, and Captain André Wateau * 1912 - Roland Garros * 1911 -

Jules Védrines Jules Charles Toussaint Védrines (29 December 1881 – 21 April 1919) was an early French aviator, notable for being the first pilot to fly at more than 100 mph and for winning the Gordon Bennett Trophy race in 1912. Biography Jules Védrin ...

* 1910 - Géo Chavez * 1909 - Louis Blériot * 1908 -

Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874– 17 July 1958) was a British-French aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. Before dedicating himself to aviation he gained fame as a sportsman, specifically in cycling and moto ...

, Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright * 1901 -

, Robert Lebaudy * 1900 -

References

External links

Aéro-Club de France website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aero-Club De France Flying clubs Clubs and societies in France Organizations established in 1898 Air Cadet organisations 1898 establishments in France

Medal

See also

References

External links