Ernest Failloubaz
| Ernst Failloubaz | |
|---|---|
Ernest Failloubaz
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| Born |
27 July 1892 Avenches, Switzerland |
| Died | 14 May 1919 (aged 26) Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Occupation | Pilot, investor, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Pilot's brevet number 1 issued in Switzerland on October 1, 1910 Most prominent Swiss aviatic pioneer |
Ernest Failloubaz (27 July 1892 in Avenches – 14 May 1919 in Lausanne) was a Swiss aviation pioneer. He received the pilot's brevet number 1 issued in Switzerland on 11 October 1910, and Failloubaz did the first flight in Switzerland of an aircraft built and flown by Swiss citizen.
Ernest Failloubaz' father Jules, a rich wine merchant, died when Ernest was four years old. Six years later his mother Emilie died, too. His grandmother and aunt, who owned the local bakery, then took care of him. As a child, Ernest was already passionate about mechanics and speed and convinced his grandmother to buy him probably one of the first motorcycles in Switzerland, later an automobile.
In early 1909, at the age of 17, Failloubaz met René Grandjean who planned to build his own aircraft, using only a picture of Louis Blériot's aircraft. Due to Grandjean's inventiveness and craftsman qualities, they completed this first aircraft in October 1909. The ground tests started in February 1910 at the l’Estivage field in Avenches. What is recognized as of today as being the starting point of the Swiss aviation, happened on 10 May 1910: Ernest Failloubaz piloted the machine, took off, flies and landed smoothly, resulting in the first flight in Switzerland of an aircraft built and flown by a Swiss citizen. René Grandjean succeeded a few days after his friend's first flight. Failloubaz went to Paris at end of May 1910 to buy a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle and brought it immediately back to Avenches where he trained daily. A few months later, having reached the limits of the Demoiselle, he bought the more powerful Blériot monoplane to allow him flying higher and longer.
With this aircraft Failloubaz participated at the flight meeting in Viry, Haute-Savoie, in August 1910 and dared what no one else had ever attempted before: Stopping the engine in flight, gliding and restarting his engine. On 28 September 1910, he succeeded in the first city-to-city flight in Switzerland from Avenches to Payerne, lasting six minutes.
On 2 October Failloubaz participated at the first Swiss flight meeting in Avenches. From October 8 to 10, at the Bern meeting, he succeeded again: A flight of 58 minutes and 17 seconds was a new record.
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