Hubert Latham

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Hubert Latham

Arthur Charles Hubert Latham (born January 10, 1883 in Paris , † June 25, 1912 at Fort Archambault , today Sarh ) was a French aviation pioneer . He set up a number of flight records in 1909 and 1910 (1910, altitude record with 1384 meters) and first flight performances. On September 27, 1909, he carried out the first overland flight in Germany with an Antoinette monoplane from Tempelhofer Feld to the Johannisthal airfield .

Life

Latham was born in Paris to a wealthy Protestant family of French, English and German ancestors. The English-born merchant family of his father Lionel had been based in Le Havre since 1829, his mother's family were the bankers Mallet Frères et Cie. Hubert and his two siblings were brought up in an elitist manner and spoke French, English and German. Together with a distant cousin Jules Gastambide , Léon Levavasseur's partner at Société Antoinette , he successfully took part in boat races in boats equipped with Antoinette engines.

Latham (middle) and Levavasseur (right)

Hubert Latham became known as early as 1905 when he accompanied his cousin Jacques Faure (1873-1910) as a passenger on the night of February 11th to 12th when he crossed the canal in a free balloon from London to Saint Denis (Paris). For this Latham received the bronze medal of the Aéro-Club de France.

Fascinated by Wilbur Wright's flight demonstrations in France in 1908, he trained as a pilot with Antoinette in early 1909. After just a few months, he was considered the best Antoinette pilot. On August 17th, he received the Aéro-Club de France 's No. 9 pilot's license . He became a flight instructor at the flight school jointly founded by Antoinette and the French army. At the same time he took part in flight events and competitions. On July 19 and 27, 1909, Latham made two attempts with Antoinette machines to cross the English Channel in competition with Blériot and failed twice with engine problems.

At the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne from August 22 to 29, 1909 in Reims , he won the altitude competition with the world record of 155 meters and was second in the speed competition with 68.9 km / h.

"Hubert Latham on the flight to Johannisthal , 1909"

Latham carried out the first overland flight with a fixed-wing aircraft in Germany on September 27, 1909 over Berlin. He flew with his Antoinette monoplane ten kilometers from Tempelhofer Feld to the Johannisthal airfield , where a “competitive flight” took place on the occasion of the opening of the airfield . Since overland flights by airplanes were not regulated by regulations at the time, Latham's flight was considered "gross nonsense" and resulted in a penalty from the police authority of 150 marks .

On the occasion of his flight demonstrations in Berlin in September 1909, Walther Huth contacted him to have his chauffeur Simon Brunnhuber trained with him. After successfully training at Latham, Brunnhuber became the first flight instructor for German military pilots in Döberitz in 1910 .

Hubert Latham died on June 25, 1912 during an expedition to Africa. According to an official report, he was killed in an attack by a wounded buffalo.

swell

  • Kai Biermann , Erhard Cielewicz: Döberitz airfield. Birthplace of military aviation in Germany . Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-86153-371-5 .
  • Schmitt, Günter: When the vintage cars flew - The history of the Johannisthal airfield . Transpress, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-344-00129-9 .
  • Barbara Walsh: Forgotten Aviator Hubert Latham: A high-flying gentleman . The History Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7524-4318-8 .

Web links

Commons : Hubert Latham  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walsh: Forgotten Aviator Hubert Latham ...
  2. ↑ a b c Schmitt: When the oldtimers flew , p. 20ff
  3. ^ Alfred de Quervain: From London to Paris in a balloon . In: Illustrated Aëronautische Mitteilungen - Deutsche Zeitschrift für Luftschiffahrt - Organ of the German Airship Association and the Vienna Aircraft Association. No. 3 . Commission publisher by Karl J. Trübner, March 1905, ZDB -ID 515874-6 , Kleinere Mitteilungen, p. 93 .
  4. ↑ Latham, Hubert . In: Gustav Braunbeck (Ed.): Braunbeck's Sport-Lexikon Luftschiffahrt . Braunbeck-Gutenberg AG, Berlin 1910, DNB 946430829 , lexical part. Aviation, S.   274 .
  5. ↑ 1912 newspaper report, Hubert Lathan Channel overflight
  6. ↑ Biermann, Cielewicz: Flugplatz Döberitz , p. 26
personal data
SURNAME Latham, Hubert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French pilot
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris , France
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1912
Place of death Sarh , Chad