The ''Ader Éole'', also called ''Avion'' (French for ''aeroplane''), was an early

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

-powered

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...

developed by

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 ...

in the

1890s The 1890s (pronounced "eighteen-nineties") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1890, and ended on December 31, 1899. In the United States, the 1890s were marked by a severe economic depression sparked by the Panic of ...

and named after the Greco-Roman wind god

Aeolus In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos (; grc, Αἴολος , ) is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which A ...

Design and development

Unlike many early flying machines, the Éole did not attempt to fly by flapping its wings, but relied on the lift generated by its wings in forward motion. With wings resembling mechanical copies of bat wings, its steam engine was an unusually light-weight design driving a

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

at the front of the aircraft, but lacking any means for the pilot to control the direction of flight. According to late 1907 claims made by Clément Ader,Clément Ader (1907)
“La première étape de l'aviation militaire en France”
''J. Bosc et Cie, 38 Chaussée d’Antin 38.'', p. 6 on 8 October 1890, the machine achieved a short flight of around 50 m (164 ft) at the Chateau d'Armainvilliers in

Brie Brie (; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern ''département'' of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white mo ...

. It reached a height of around 20 cm (8 in). The poor

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...

of the steam engine and bad weather were felt to limit the flying height achieved. Ader later claimed to have flown the Éole again in September 1891, this time to a distance of 100 m (328 ft), but this claim is less substantiated. EolePatent

Some consider the ''Éole'' to have been the first true aeroplane, given that it left the ground under its own power and carried a person through the air for a short distance, and that the event of 8 October 1890 was the first successful flight. However, the lack of directional control, and the fact that steam-powered aircraft proved to be a dead end, both weigh against these claims. Ader's proponents have claimed that the Wrights' early airplanes required a

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stor ...

to take off; however, the Wrights did not use a catapult for their first flights in 1903, though they did for many flights in 1904 and later. Modern attempts to recreate and evaluate the craft have met with mixed results. A full-size

replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

built in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

at the ''

École Centrale Paris École Centrale Paris (ECP; also known as École Centrale or Centrale) was a French grande école in engineering and science. It was also known by its official name ''École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures''. In 2015, École Centrale Paris mer ...

'' crashed on its first flight, injuring its pilot and leading to the termination of the experiment. Scale models, however, have been successfully flown.

Specifications (Éole)

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ader Eole 19th-century French experimental aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft manufactured in France Steam-powered aircraft

Design and development

Specifications (Éole)

See also

Notes

References