Henri Fabre (1882-1984)

Henri Fabre was a French aviator, born into a prominent family on November 29 in Marseilles, France. His interest in science led him to the Jesuit College in Marseilles, France where he studied sciences, namely airplanes and propeller designs.

He was interested in the problem of achieving powered flight from a water base, which had not been tackled yet. He began building a giant dragonfly shaped plane made of ash with cotton covering, with hollow wooden floats underneath that he started to test in La Mëde harbor, near Marseilles (France) around 1909, a convenient water source. The plane was powered by a 50-hp Gnome motor and also a Chauviere propeller at the rear.

After his testing, the plane, now known as a seaplane, made its first successful flight on March 28, 1910. It was nicknamed “Le Canard” which means bird in French, and went a total distance of 1650 feet while being 6 and a half feet above water. It was 27 feet 10 inches in length and 45 feet 11 inches in wingspan. The seaplane successfully was able to fly over the water for short distances, but unfortunately crashed in May 1910 in the Mediterranean. It was rebuilt and was soon used again in aquatic races in 1911.

Information:
http://www.earlyaviators.com/efabre.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Fabre


Pictures:
http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/AERO/history1c.htm
http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/fabre.html
http://site.voila.fr/planetemassalia/images/henri_fabre.jpg