Pierre de Caters
Baron Pierre Henri Marie Amédée Baron de Caters de Bosschaert (born December 25, 1875 in Berchem , † March 21, 1944 in Paris ) was a Belgian car and motorboat racing driver as well as aviation pioneer and entrepreneur. In 1908 he was the first Belgian to fly a flight.
Automobile sport
Baron Pierre de Caters came from a wealthy noble family. He attended the Koninklijke Militaire School , but left the military to study engineering . He was also an avid athlete. In 1899 he bought his first car, a De Dion , and began taking part in car races such as the Ardennes Tour or Paris-Madrid . His fortune allowed him to buy the best automobiles. As chairman of the Antwerp Automobile Club and team leader for Mercedes , he competed in Ireland for the first time in the Gordon Bennett Cup in 1903 . In 1904 he briefly held the land speed record when he reached a speed of 156 kilometers per hour over a kilometer on a beach near Ostend in a DMG Mercedes Simplex . In the same year he was third in the Gordon Bennett Cup . In 1906 he started at the first Targa Florio in Sicily . In 1907 he won the Ardennes race and ended his racing career.
Motor boating
Pierre de Caters was also interested in motor boats. In April 1906 he set three world records, over ten and over 50 kilometers, as well as a speed record of 50.5 kilometers per hour. In August 1906 he won the Oostendse Week van de Gemotoriseerde Watersport .
Aviation
After the first flights of the Wright and Henri Farmans brothers , aviation caught the interest of Baron de Caters. He traveled in 1908 to Paris at Voisin five Voisin machines to order. He made his first flights on the estate of his castle in 's-Gravenwezel . He convinced the Belgian Minister of War to create an airfield in Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor . A few months later he flew several hundred meters in the Voisin de Caters No. 2 at a height of around five meters. This is considered to be the first flight by a Belgian pilot. In the following time he took part in flight competitions and exhibitions. Among others at the ILA 1909 in Frankfurt.
In December 1909, Pierre de Caters was the first Belgian to receive a license as a pilot from the Belgian Aëroclub and a gold medal for the first kilometer flown. He then decided to fly from Budapest to Warsaw via Constantinople to Cairo . In both Poland and Egypt, his flight was the first in these countries.
In February 1910, Pierre de Caters founded Belgium's first aircraft company, Aviator ; he had the planes built by another company on his behalf. He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor for his services to Belgian aviation.
On November 16, 1910, Pierre de Caters embarked for India on two planes . He was accompanied by Jules Tyck , another Belgian pilot. The city of Bombay declined to organize a flight meeting. The two pilots then traveled on to Calcutta in their packed planes . There de Caters started several times from the Club of Tollygunge . On December 21, he flew for 27 minutes with Sen Beil, sister of the Maharajah of Cooch Behar , as a passenger. One of the planes was destroyed in a fire. On February 2, 1911, de Caters and Tyck flew into Bangalore and were received by the Maharajah of Mysore . From February 16 to 18, Pierre flew from Secunderabad to Hyderabad . That ended the India tour. Shortly thereafter, the Aviator company was dissolved and Pierre de Caters no longer took part in any competitions.
During the First World War , de Caters joined the Belgian air force and directed the flight school in Étampes . Shortly after the mobilization, other civil pilots reported, in addition to de Caters, the fliers Crombez, Tyck and the Olieslagers brothers with their aircraft and enabled the establishment of the Compagnie des Aviateurs .
During the war, Pierre de Caters founded the Naamloze Vennootschap van Economische Brandstoffe company near Paris for the production of peat briquettes, which he continued to operate after the war.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Michale Mandl / Guido Wuyts: Pierre de Caters, first Belgische viegenier en vblasuigconstructeur, stichtend van de “Vieilles Tiges” van de Belgische luchtvaart on vieillestiges.be
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Caters, Pierre de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Caters de Bosschaert, Pierre Henri Marie Amédée de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian car and motorboat racer, aviation pioneer and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 25, 1875 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berchem |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 21, 1944 |
| Place of death | Paris |