Voisin 1907 biplane
| Voisin 1907 biplane | |
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| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Frères Voisin |
| Designer | Gabriel Voisin |
| First flight | 30 March 1907 |
| Number built | ~60 |
The 1907 Voisin biplane (designated the Voisin II by the 1913 edition of Jane's All the World's Aircraft), was the first successful powered aircraft designed by aeronautical engineer and manufacturer Gabriel Voisin. It was used by the French aviator Henri Farman to make the first heavier-than-air flight lasting more than a minute in Europe, and also to make the first full circle. The first examples of the aircraft were known by the name of their owners, for instance the Delagrange I, or the Farman I. Farman made many modifications to his aircraft, and these were incorporated into later production aircraft built by Voisin. The type enjoyed widespread success, and around sixty were built.
Between 1904 and 1908 there was fierce competition between European aviation experimenters attempting to achieve powered heavier-than-air flight. Although the Wright Brothers had first flown a powered aircraft in 1903, and by the end of 1905 had flown their Flyer III many times (including a flight of 24 miles (39 km) in 39 minutes 23 seconds on 5 October), they had chosen not to make public demonstrations or allow close examination of their aircraft because they feared that this might jeopardize their prospects of commercially exploiting their discoveries. As a result, many people did not believe the claims of the Wright Brothers until Wilbur Wright's demonstrations at Le Mans in France during August 1908, when their advance in airplane control was obviously apparent.
In 1906 Alberto Santos-Dumont had made Europe's first officially recognised heavier-than-air powered flights using his 14-bis aircraft, witnessed by officials from the Aero Club de France. The successful flights made in 1907-8 by Léon Delagrange and Henri Farman in their Voisin aircraft put the Voisin brothers at the forefront of European aviation development.
After assisting Ernest Archdeacon with his gliding experiments in 1904 Gabriel Voisin briefly entered a partnership with Louis Blériot in 1905. After the failure of their second aircraft, the Bleriot IV, the partnership was dissolved in November 1906. After parting from Blériot, Gabriel Voisin set up his own aircraft construction company, Les Frères Voisin, in partnership with his brother Charles. The first powered aircraft designed by the Voisin brothers was built for Henry Kapferer, Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe's nephew. It was completed in March 1907 but never flew. Kapferer had insisted on a Buchet gasoline engine which developed only 20 horsepower, which was inadequate to achieve flight.
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