Planophores
Planophore (fr. Le planophore , also referred to as planaphore in many sources ) is the name of the first model airplane powered by a rubber engine , which was developed by Alphonse Pénaud in 1871. It has a wingspan of 45 cm, weighs 16 g and in this basic configuration allegedly flew 60 m as early as 1871.
With his Planophore, Pénaud is not only considered the father of model aircraft construction . With the Planophore and later work, he also demonstrated that airworthy models can provide inexpensive and safe knowledge for man-carrying aircraft. This makes it an important pioneer for aircraft construction, development and testing.
Planophore models were sold as toys in significant numbers at the end of the 19th century. There is evidence that one of these models came into the possession of the Wright brothers before 1899 - Wilbur Wright reports about it in his correspondence .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gerald Kainberger: The big book of model flights: theory, technology, practice. Verlag für Technik und Handwerk, Baden-Baden 2010, ISBN 978-3-88180-793-7 , p. 11
- ↑ Michal Šíp: The new large manual model flight: gliders - powered aircraft - jet models - helicopters. GeraMond-Verl., Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-86245-510-2 , pp. 17-20