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 born at

Pézenas Pézenas (; Languedocien: ''Pesenàs'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Name The name "Pézenas" is derived from the older name ''Piscenae'', probably from the Latin word ''piscenis'', meanin ...

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.St Cyr as a balloon pilot during his military service, in 1905 he won a competition for model aircraft design. Following his national service, he was employed by the balloon manufacturer Édouard Surcouf as an engineer, working on the construction of the dirigible '' La Ville de Paris'' and making many flights as its mechanic during 1907. The same year he won a competition for model aircraft design in which the first prize was to be a full-size construction of the winning design. His design was so complex that instead he was given a Voisin airframe. With the help of family and friends, he obtained an engine and taught himself to fly in 1909. He was issued with French pilot licence No.10. (The first batch of 10 licences was issued in alphabetical order of surname.) He quickly established himself as gifted pilot. He took part in many airshows, including one in

La Brayelle Airfield La Brayelle Airfield was one of the first airfields in France. It was situated west of Douai, in the Nord département in northern France. It was host to the world's first aviation meeting, home to Bréguet Aviation, and an important airfield i ...

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, Dou ...

, in July 1909, where he set new records for altitude () and duration (1h 07m), covering , and the Grande Semaine d'Aviation in

Rheims 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 ...

where he crashed. In

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, flying a Farman III, he broke three records: height (920 m), speed (20 km in 19 minutes) and weight, carrying a passenger. He flew at the Blackpool Aviation Week in October 1909, Britain's first air show. On 29 October 1909, Paulhan made the first official powered flight at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

, Surrey, England, in his biplane made by

Farman Aviation Works Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationa ...

. This was also the first public flying display at Brooklands and some 20,000 spectators watched him fly to a height of . Local press reported that the land surrounded by the Brooklands Motor Racing Track was converted into an

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

for this event by a gang of men working day and night.

Touring America

In January 1910, Paulhan was invited to America to take part in airshows and competitions, at the Los Angeles International Air Meet ( 10–20 January). He arrived with two Blériot

monoplanes A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

and two

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

biplanes. The Wright brothers, though not taking part in the event, were there with their lawyers to prevent Paulhan 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 ...

from flying. The Wrights claimed that the ailerons on their aircraft infringed patents. Paulhan flew anyway, winning all of the prizes and $19,000. He set up a new altitude record of , beating his own previous record of , and won the endurance prize with a flight lasting 1hr 49mn 40sec. He gave

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

his first experience of flight. However, he seems to have let down

William Boeing William Edward Boeing (; October 1, 1881 – September 28, 1956) was an American aviation pioneer who founded the Pacific Airplane Company in 1916, which a year later was renamed to The Boeing Company, now the largest exporter in the United S ...

, who had been enthused by the new invention of the aeroplane:

While attending the first American Air Meet in Los Angeles, Boeing asked nearly every aviator for a ride, but no one said yes except Paulhan. For three days Boeing waited, but on the fourth day he discovered Paulhan had already left the meet. Possibly, one of the biggest missed opportunities in Paulhan's life was the ride he never gave Boeing.

From Los Angeles, Paulhan moved on to give exhibitions in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, where the '' Deseret News'' headline announced that the "Air King is Here to Fly". He also appeared in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and made the first aeroplane flight in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. The Wright brothers' case led, on 17 February, to a Federal judge ordering Paulhan to pay $25,000 for every paid display. Furious, he cancelled his American tour and went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to challenge the Wright brothers by giving public demonstration flights for free. The dispute rumbled on and in March an agreement was reached whereby he could continue to give flying exhibitions in his Farman biplane on condition that he pay a $6,000 a week bond, pending the outcome of the case. The affair threatened the planned international aviation meet to be hosted by the

Aero Club of America The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New ...

, at which the competition for the Gordon Bennett Trophy was to be held. According to Courtlandt Field Bishop, president of the Aero Club of America, all the leading foreign aviators had assured him that they would not appear in the country until the case was decided. If Paulhan won, they would compete; if he lost they did "not care to place themselves within the jurisdiction of American courts." Paulhan eventually left quietly for France. The Wrights' patent case dragged on for many more years, involving Curtiss and many other pilots and manufacturers.

Back in Europe

Returning to Europe, Paulhan continued his flying exploits. In April 1910, he won the London to Manchester air race, taking the £10,000 prize offered for flying from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, a distance of . This prize had been offered in 1906 by the '' Daily Mail'' for the first pilot to fly from London to Manchester within 24 hours. The flight had to start and finish within five miles of the ''Daily Mail'' office in each city, with no more than two landings en route. In 1906 this seemed an impossible feat – the best European fliers at that time could only stay aloft for seconds. Paulhan arrived in Manchester 12 hours after setting out from London, having spent 4 hours 12 minutes in the air, with an overnight stop at

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

, 117 miles from his starting point. He thus beat the British contender,

Claude Grahame-White Claude Grahame-White (21 August 1879 – 19 August 1959) was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the ''Daily Mail''-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race. Early life Claude Grahame-White was born ...

. There is a blue plaque on a house in Paulhan Road,

Burnage Burnage is a suburb of the city of Manchester in North West England, about south of Manchester city centre and bisected by the dual carriageway of Kingsway. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the population of the B ...

, Manchester, at the site of his winning landing. In 1910, Paulhan was one of the first pilots to fly a seaplane, the Hydravion designed by Henri Fabre, and won a £10,000 prize for the most flights made in the year. He also turned his attention to aircraft design, producing the Paulhan biplane in association with Fabre, a large triplane which was flown at the 1911 French military aircraft trials competition, and the Aéro-Torpille in association with Victor Tatin. In February 1912, he opened a seaplane flying school in

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; oc, Vilafranca de Mar ; it, Villafranca Marittima ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region on the French Riviera and is l ...

before moving to

Arcachon Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for i ...

First World War

In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Paulhan was mobilised as a pilot with the rank of lieutenant on 15 September 1914, serving initially in northern France near to

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

. He was transferred to the Serbian front in 1915,''L'homme-vent'', special issue of ''L'Ami de Pézenas'', 2010, ISSN 1240-0084. where he was not only the most experienced but also the oldest aviator. In Serbia, he commanded a squadron of 10

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 ...

aeroplanes. In flight he was sometimes accompanied by a machine gunner or, it seems, by a mechanic carrying out repairs in flight. The Serbian campaign was unsuccessful, but Paulhan is credited with the world's first "

medevac Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

" when he flew the seriously ill Milan Stefanik to safety. Decorated with the '' croix de guerre'', he returned to France and flew no more missions, but returned to construction, notably of propellers, for the French military. After the war, he was made an Officer of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

After 1918

On demobilisation, Paulhan became a seaplane builder, building machines under licence from Curtiss. He worked at aircraft construction with engineer Pillard at the

Société Provençale de Constructions Aéronautiques The ''Société Provençale de Constructions Aéronautiques'' (SPCA) was a French aircraft manufacturing company, with its head office in Paris and its workshop in La Ciotat near Marseille. History Founded by Georges Philippar in 1925, SPCA beg ...

, building in 1928 the first all-metal

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

in France, the . He contributed to the manufacture of

Dewoitine Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established by Émile Dewoitine at Toulouse in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters which were largely ignored by t ...

planes. He abandoned aeronautics the day his only son, René (a test pilot), died (10 May 1937), at the presentation of the

Caudron C.690 __NOTOC__ The Caudron C.690 was a single-seat training aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety featur ...

fighter plane.Marcel Catillon, ''Mémorial aéronautique : qui était qui?'', Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1997, Paulhan retired to

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; eu, Donibane Lohitzune,Donibane Lohitzune
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 a ...

to be one of the passengers on its inaugural non-stop flight from Paris to Los Angeles. In 1927, Paulhan was a co-founder of the company Société Continentale Parker (subsequently Coventya) in France together with Robert Deté,

Enea Bossi Enea Bossi Sr. (March 29, 1888January 9, 1963) was an Italian-American aerospace engineer and aviation pioneer. He is best known for designing the Budd BB-1 ''Pioneer'', the first stainless steel aircraft; and the ''Pedaliante'' airplane, dispu ...

and . The purpose was to transfer surface treatment technologies for the growing aerospace industry to Europe. They started with a licence from Parker Rust-Proof of Detroit (

Parkerizing Phosphate conversion coating is a chemical treatment applied to steel parts that creates a thin adhering layer of iron, zinc, or manganese phosphates, to achieve corrosion resistance, lubrication, or as a foundation for subsequent coatings or p ...

or phosphating) and in a later step with the distribution rights of Udylite Corp for

specialty chemicals Speciality chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products which provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, ag ...

in electroplating. The company's successor organizations, Chemetall GmbH and Coventya GmbH, later became the European market leaders in surface treatment. Paulhan died on 10 February 1963 at

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Saint-Jean-de-Luz (; eu, Donibane Lohitzune,Donibane Lohitzune
Pézenas Pézenas (; Languedocien: ''Pesenàs'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Name The name "Pézenas" is derived from the older name ''Piscenae'', probably from the Latin word ''piscenis'', meanin ...

where a monument has been erected in commemoration; a wall plaque in Rue Conti in Pézenas also recalls his achievements.

Notes and references

External links

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 ...

"En suivant Paulhan"
''La vie au grand air'' 7 May 1910. A detailed contemporary account of the London-Manchester air race, with several photos

*
Paulhan in Salt Lake City

''Les hydro aéroplanes Paulhan-Curtiss''
Biography, hydroplane development, photos {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulhan, Louis 1883 births 1963 deaths People from Pézenas Aviation pioneers Members of the Early Birds of Aviation Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Flight altitude record holders Flight endurance record holders French aviation record holders