The
Aéro-Club de France
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, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la Valette, Jules Verne and his wife, André Michelin, Albert de Dion, ...
issued Aviators Certificates from 1 January 1910 on. These were internationally recognised under the authority of the
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Following a suggestion by Georges Besançon, the secretary of the Ae.C.F., the first eight French aviator's licences were awarded retrospectively dated on 7 January 1909 to
Louis Blériot,
Leon Delagrange
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
,
Robert Esnault-Pelterie Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian Kons ...
,
Henry 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 ...
,
Alberto Santos-Dumont
Alberto Santos-Dumont ( 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 lighter-than-air and heavie ...
, Captain
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 ...
and
Orville and Wilbur Wright.
These aviation pioneers had amply demonstrated their abilities and they were therefore not required to pass a test in order to receive a licence. Further licences were awarded on 17 August to
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 ...
and
Louis Paulhan
Isidore Auguste Marie Louis Paulhan (; 19 July 1883 – 10 February 1963), was a French aviator. He is known for winning the first ''Daily Mail'' aviation prize for the first flight between London and Manchester in 1910.
Biography
Paulhan was b ...
, on 16 September to
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 ...
, on 7 October 1909 to
Jean Gobron,
Charles de Lambert and
Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early a ...
, and on 18 November to
Maurice Farman
Maurice Alain Farman (21 March 1877 – 25 February 1964) was a British-French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer.
Biography
Born in Paris to English parents, he and his brothers Richard and ...
and
.
The first sixteen licences were retrospectively numbered in alphabetical order, with Blériot receiving licence No. 1 and Wilbur Wright receiving No. 15 (No. 13 was not awarded, and numbers 5 and 10 were duplicated)
List
Legend
See also
*
Early Birds of Aviation
Gallery
The Early Birds of Aviation is an organization devoted to the history of early pilots. The organization was started in 1928 and accepted a membership of 598 pioneering aviators.
Membership was limited to ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
Eighty-Six Certified Flight Pilots ''Flight'',28 May 1910 p. 408.
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Pilots Awarded An Aviator's Certificate by the Aero-Club De France in 1909
Aviation pioneers
Lists of aviators
1909 in aviation
Aviat
1909-related lists
Aéro-Club de France