The Right Flyer: Gabriel Voisin, Henry Farman and the Archetype of Aeroplanes
The Right Flyer: Gabriel Voisin, Henry Farman and the Archetype of Aeroplanes
- 9780956981103
- In Stock
- New Sale Item
- 2017
- 5 out of 5 - 1 Review
The cellular biplane that Gabriel Voisin built for Henry Farman is by any standards a major landmark in the history of powered flight - and arguably, the first practical aeroplane, in Europe at least. As the first full account of its genesis and two-year evolution, The Right Flyer is the untold story of its true role in the final lap of the race to fly, particularly in the context of the Wright brothers’ contemporary feats on both sides of the Atlantic.
As well as exploring the social and cultural impact of these events, the story reveals how the zigzag of technological progress was driven by the personality of strong characters involved and unpicks the longstanding controversy between the very different approaches adopted by the Old World and the New.
Drawing on contemporary sources, it separates the facts from the fiction in a way that invests these extraordinarily heroic achievements with some of the gripping immediacy they had at the time.
The result is a compelling portrait of aeronautics in France from 1904 to 1908, complete with an analysis of the technologies concerned, lively accounts of the machine’s epoch-defining flights in France, Belgium and New York, and biographies of all the main protagonists.
Hardback, 360 pages with 340 photographs
Contents
Wrights and kites
The Archdeacon gliders
The Blériot-Voisin partnership
Les Frères Voisin
Construction
The motor
Flights trials
The Kilometre
The first full refit
The Ghent adventure
Farman fliWrightmania
Châlons and the world's first aeroplane journey
Visions of the future
Biplane to triplane
Retirement: Vienna
Repercussions
Appendices
The makers: Gabriel & Charles Voisin
The flyer: Henry Farman
The assistant: Maurice Herbster
The loyal lieutenant: Maurice Colliex
The catalyst: Ernest Archdeacon
The proselytiser: Ferdinand Ferber
The friend: Henry Kapférer
The opposition: Orville & Wilbur Wright
The conduit: Octave Chanute
The dilettante: Alberto Santos-Dumont
The brains: Robert Esnault-Pelterie
The rival: Louis Blériot
The motorist: Léon Levavasseur
The precursor: Lawrence Hargrave
The engineer: Frederick Lanchester
The scientist: Paul Painlevé
The pilot: John Moore-Brabazon
es in New York
Publisher: Faustroll
Status: New Sale Item
Number of pages: 360
Binding: HBD
*****A lovely book
By Douglas Kent on 30th Nov -0001 of: The Right Flyer: Gabriel Voisin, Henry Farman and the Archetype of Aeroplanes
The cover is a bit odd but the subject seemed interesting So I bought it.
This is a great book. Printed on high quality paper and with a lot of period photos. Goodness knows how the author managed to find them.