Louis Paulhan
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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, Hérault, and his heavier-than-air flying career began with making model aircraft. Stationed at 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,
Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...
, in July 1909, where he set new records for altitude () and duration (1h 07m), covering , and the Grande Semaine d'Aviation in Rheims where he crashed. In
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, 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 An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...
. On 29 October 1909, Paulhan made the first official powered flight at Brooklands,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England, in his biplane made by Farman Aviation Works. 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, airfield, or airstrip 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 public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...
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 and two Farman biplanes. The
Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
, though not taking part in the event, were there with their lawyers to prevent Paulhan and Glenn Curtiss 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 his first experience of flight. However, he seems to have let down William Boeing, 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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
,
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, where the '' Deseret News'' headline announced that the "Air King is Here to Fly". He also appeared in
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and made the first aeroplane flight in
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
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, 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, 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, 117 miles from his starting point. He thus beat the British contender, Claude Grahame-White. There is a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
on a house in Paulhan Road, Burnage, 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 before moving to Arcachon .


First World War

In the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, 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 ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...
. 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 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" 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.


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, building in 1928 the first all-metal seaplane in France, the . He contributed to the manufacture of Dewoitine 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 fighter plane.Marcel Catillon, ''Mémorial aéronautique : qui était qui?'', Nouvelles Éditions Latines, 1997, Paulhan retired to Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which he rarely left before his death. In 1960, Paulhan was invited by Air France 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 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 or phosphating) and in a later step with the distribution rights of Udylite Corp for specialty chemicals in
electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the redox, reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct current, direct electric cur ...
. 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. He is buried in his home town of Pézenas where a monument has been erected in commemoration; a wall plaque in Rue Conti in Pézenas also recalls his achievements.


See also

* List of firsts in aviation


Notes and references


External links

* Henri Farman
"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 French aviation pioneers Members of the Early Birds of Aviation Officers of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Flight altitude record holders Flight endurance record holders French aviation record holders