Ernest Archdeacon (23 March 1863 – 3 January 1950) was a French lawyer and aviation pioneer before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He made his first balloon flight at the age of 20. He commissioned a copy of the 1902 Wright No. 3 glider but had only limited success. He was regarded as France's foremost promoter and sponsor of aviation, offering prizes (''Coupe d'Aviation Ernest Archdeacon'' and the ''Deutsch de la Meurthe-Archdeacon prize''), commissioning designs, and organising tests and events. His most lasting contribution to aviation is 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, ...

, the oldest aero-club in the world, which he co-founded in 1898. On 29 May 1908, Archdeacon became the first aeroplane passenger in Europe when he was piloted by

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 ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

Early life

Archdeacon was born and raised in Paris, and studied law for a career at the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

. His passionate interest in science led him to also study ballooning and aviation, and in 1884, at age 20, he made his first balloon flight.

Motoring

Archdeacon was a keen sporting motorist, taking part in many of the main events of the period. In 1894 he finished 17th in the world's first motor race, driving his

Serpollet Gardner-Serpollet was a French manufacturer of steam-powered cars in the early 20th century. Léon Serpollet is credited with inventing and perfecting the flash boiler in the late 1800s.Paris to Rouen, covering the distance of in 13 hours. In 1896 he finished 7th in the Paris-Marseilles-Paris Trail driving a

Delahaye Delahaye was a family-owned automobile manufacturing company, founded by Émile Delahaye in 1894 in Tours, France. Manufacturing was moved to Paris following incorporation with two unrelated brothers-in-law as equal partners in 1898. The compa ...

. Covering the 1710 km in 75 hours 29 minutes 48 seconds. The event had 14 finishers from around 32 starters. In 1897 he finished 20th in the Paris-Dieppe Trail on 24 July driving a Delahaye. Covering the 170.8 km in 5 hours 41 minutes 15 seconds at an average speed of 30 kilometres per hour. The event had 43 finishers from over 45 starters. In 1899 he finished 8th in the Nice-Castellane-Nice race on 21 March driving a Delahaye, covering the 120.7 km in 3 hours 40 minutes.

The Aero Club of France

On 20 October 1898, in partnership with the oil magnate Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe. Archdeacon founded the Aéro-Club de France, which is still the official authority of the organization of sports aviation in France. Other founding members included the Marquis de Fonvielle, Count Henri de la Vaulx and Count Henri de la Valette. The first president of the Aero Club in 1900 was the Marquis

Jules-Albert de Dion Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion de Wandonne (9 March 185619 August 1946) was a French pioneer of the automobile industry. He invented a steam-powered car and used it to win the world's first auto race, but his vehicle was adju ...

Sponsor of aviation

In April 1900, the

announced the 'Deutsch de la Meurthe' prize of one hundred thousand francs for the first flying machine to complete the round trip from

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest tow ...

to the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed ...

and back in less than thirty minutes. On 19 October 1901

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 ...

won the prize in his airship No 6. After learning about the Wright brothers glider flights from

Octave Chanute Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He provided many budding enthusiasts, including the Wright brothers, with help and advice, and helped to publicize their flying ...

's lecture to the Aero Club de France on 2 April 1903, Archdeacon decided to further encourage the development of aviation in France. He was encouraged to do this by the pioneer French aviator Captain Ferber, who had written to Archdeacon demanding "Do not let the aeroplane be achieved in America first." Archdeacon donated 3000 francs to the "Archdeacon committee!" of the Aéro-Club de France to sponsor aviation competitions.

Gliders

In 1903, Archdeacon commissioned an imperfect copy of the

1902 Wright glider The Wright brothers designed, built and flew a series of three manned gliders in 1900–1902 as they worked towards achieving powered flight. They also made preliminary tests with a kite in 1899. In 1911 Orville conducted tests with a much mor ...

from Monsieur Dargent at the military balloons and airships workshop at

Chalais-Meudon Chalais-Meudon is an aeronautical research and development centre in Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation. ...

. It was a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

with an

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

framework covered with silk and braced with piano wire, and lacked the provision for lateral control that was the key to the success of the Wright Brothers' aircraft. It was described in ''La Vie au Grand Air'': The first experiments with this glider were conducted in April 1904 on the dunes at Merlimont near

Berck-sur-Mer Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer (, literally ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. It lies within the Marquenterre regional park, an ornithological nature reserve. Geography Situa ...

, piloted by

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 ...

and Captain Ferber. In March 1905, he commissioned a second glider from Voisin. In its unmanned first test, towed by a car, it broke apart in the air. A third glider, the Voisin-Archdeacon floatplane glider, was then commissioned from Voisin. This aircraft marked the introduction to European aviation of the Hargrave cell, based on

Lawrence Hargrave Lawrence Hargrave, MRAeS, (29 January 18506 July 1915) was a British-born Australian engineer, explorer, astronomer, inventor and aeronautical pioneer. Biography Lawrence Hargrave was born in Greenwich, England, the second son of John Fletc ...

's box-kites: it was a three-bay biplane with side-curtains between the wings, a double-cell biplane tail and a forward elevator, and was fitted with a pair of floats. It was successfully tested on the

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Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and t ...

using a boat to tow it between the bridges of

and

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...

. It rose to about above the Seine and flew about , but was damaged in its next test and never flew again, although further attempts were made on

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in September.

Heavier-than-air powered flight

In 1903 Ernest Archdeacon and the Aéro-Club de France announced the ''Coupe d'Aviation Ernest Archdeacon'', a silver trophy for the first flight of more than twenty-five metres by a 'heavier-than-air' craft. Later, the Aéro-Club de France offered a prize of 1500 francs to the first person to fly . In October 1904, Ernest Archdeacon joined Deutsch de la Meurthe to offer a prize of 50,000 francs for the first heavier-than-air flight around a one kilometre closed circuit. The sum represented about 20 times the annual earnings of a Parisian professional worker. Archdeacon and de la Meurthe understood that apart from the Wrights (see below), all heavier-than-air flights had been in a straight line. The prize was intended to encourage the development of an airplane that could turn, so the prize winner would have to fly a closed circuit. The 25 metre prize was won by

on 23 October 1906 at

Bagatelle Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by woode ...

. He went on to win the 100 metre prize on 12 November 1906. The 1 kilometre prize was won by

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 ...

on 13 January 1908, at

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cat ...

Archdeacon Aéromotocyclette Anzani

In 1906 Archdeacon commissioned a propeller-driven motorcycle, the ''Aéromotocyclette Anzani'', which achieved a timed speed of 79.5 kilometres per hour at

Achères-la-Forêt Achères-la-Forêt () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Population The inhabitants are called ''Achérois''. Places of interest * Sainte-Fare church (12th to 15th centuries, Ro ...

. This ''aéromotocyclette'', based on a '

Buchet Buchet () was a French motorcycle and automobile manufacturer between 1911 and 1930. Origins Société Buchet was founded in 1888 at Levallois-Perret as a producer of lamps. In 1899 Élie-Victor Buchet began to manufacture engines for auto-mak ...

' motorcycle, was equipped with a 6-horsepower

Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani (1877–1956), which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy. Overview From his native Italy, An ...

engine driving a propeller mounted on a steel tube. There is no evidence that he applied for a patent.

Scepticism toward the Wright brothers

In November 1905 the Wright Brothers had written a letter to George Besançon, the editor of ''l'Aérophile'' describing their recent achievements in detail. The letter was published in the Paris sporting daily newspaper ''l'Auto'' on 30 November 1905, since Besançon was not able to publish it himself without delay. This news polarized members of the Aero Club de France. A minority, including Besançon, Ferber and Henry Kapférer, believed the claims of the Wright Brothers, but the majority, led by Archdeacon, thought that they were false. In 1906 the anti- Wright brothers sceptics in the European aviation community had converted the press. European newspapers, especially in France, were openly derisive, calling them ''bluffeurs'' (bluffers). Archdeacon was publicly sceptical of the brothers' claims in spite of published reports; he wrote several articles and stated that "the French would make the first public demonstration of powered flight". On 10 February 1906 the Paris edition of the New York Herald summed up Europe's opinion of the Wright brothers in an editorial: "The Wrights have flown or they have not flown. They possess a machine or they do not possess one. They are in fact either fliers or liars. It is difficult to fly. It's easy to say, 'We have flown.'" In August 1908, after Wilbur Wright's demonstrations at Les Hunaudières race course near

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

, Archdeacon publicly admitted that he had done them an injustice.

Aeroplane passenger

Ernest Archdeacon is widely cited as the first aeroplane passenger in Europe when he was piloted by

on 29 May 1908. Gibbs-Smith, C. H., ''The Rebirth of European Aviation'': London, HMSO, 1974. , p. 254 The total flight was . Charles E. Vivian says he was preceded on 29 March by Leon Delagrange, who was also flown by Farman.

Esperanto

Archdeacon also spoke

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communic ...

, which he learned in 1908. He wrote "Why I became an Esperanto speaker" (''Pourquoi je suis devenu espérantiste'', Paris: Fayard, 1910, 265p.), prefaced by Henri Farman. He was elected president of the ''Société Française pour la Propagation de l'Espéranto'' in 1925, and advocated that international language until the end of his life.

References

External links

The Pioneers - An Anthology Ernest Archdeacon (1863 - 1950)
;Image gallery of Archdeacon projects
Archdeacon-Voisin Glider, c.1904

Archdeacon-Voisin Glider, c.1904. L'aéroplane Archdeacon, construit a Chalais-Meudon

Archdeacon-Voisin Glider, Issy les Moulineaux, March 1905

Archdeacon-Voisin Glider, Issy les Moulineaux, March 1905

Archdeacon-Voisin Glider, Issy les Moulineaux, March 1905, Towed by car with sand bag load

Henry Farman and Ernest Archdeacon, Issy-les-Moulineaux, 1908. On 29 May Farman took Archdeacon as 'the first air passenger in Europe'.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archdeacon, Ernest Aviation pioneers French aviators Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 1863 births 1950 deaths French people of Irish descent