1907 in aviation
Encyclopedia
This is a list of aviation
-related events from 1907:
Undated
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
-related events from 1907:
April
- 5 April – Louis BlériotLouis BlériotLouis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
makes a short flight in his Blériot VBlériot V|-See also:-References:...
monoplaneMonoplaneA monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
. - 6 April – Horatio Phillips achieves the first, limited, powered heavier-than-air flight in the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
when his multiplane makes a 500 ft (152.4 m) hop.
August
- The first aerodromeAerodromeAn aerodrome, airdrome or airfield is a term for any location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve cargo, passengers or neither...
with hangarHangarA hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
s opens at Issy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-MoulineauxIssy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
, France. - 1 August – The United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
creates an Aeronautical DivisionAeronautical Division, U.S. Signal CorpsThe Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps was the world's first heavier-than-air military aviation organization and the progenitor of the United States Air Force. A component of the U.S...
within the office of the chief of its Signal Corps under Captain Charles deForest ChandlerCharles deForest ChandlerColonel Charles deForest Chandler was an American military aviator, and the first head of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps that later became the United States Air Force.-External links:**...
, consisting of one officer, one non-commissioned officerNon-commissioned officerA non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
, and one enlisted man, with a mission to oversee "all matters pertaining to military ballooning, air machines, and all kindred subjects". It is the worlds first heavier-than-air military aviation unit.
September
- The ZeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
LZ-3 sets a record by remaining aloft for eight hours. - 29 September – Louis Breguet and Charles Richet demonstrate their Gyroplane No. 1Breguet-Richet Gyroplane|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Young, Warren R. The Helicopters. "The Epic of Flight". Chicago: Time-Life Books, 1982. ISBN 0-8094-3350-8....
, the first rotary-wing aircraft to lift a person off the ground. The craft does not fly freely; it is controlled by handlers with poles standing around it on the ground. - 30 September – Flying a Voisin-Farman IVoisin-Farman IThe 1907 Voisin biplane was the first successful powered aircraft designed by aeronautical engineer and manufacturer Gabriel Voisin. It was used by the French aviator Henri FarmanBorn in France to British parents, Henry Farman took French nationality in 1937 to make the first heavier-than-air...
biplaneBiplaneA biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
at Issy, Henry FarmanHenry FarmanHenri Farman Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874 – 17 July 1958 was a French pilot, aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. His family was British and he took French nationality in 1937.-Biography:...
begins a progressively longer series of flights.
October
- 5 October - British Army Dirigible No 1, Nulli Secundus, the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's first powered airshipAirshipAn airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
, flies from the School of BallooningSchool of BallooningThe School of Ballooning was a training and test centre for British Army experiments with balloons and airships. It was established at Chatham in Kent in 1888. The School moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the Royal...
, Farnborough, HampshireFarnborough AirfieldFarnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
, to London in 3 hours 25 minutes. - 12-13 October – Augustus Gaudron crosses the North SeaNorth SeaIn the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
in a hot air balloonHot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
named Mammouth. He flies 1160 km (720.8 mi) from The Crystal PalaceThe Crystal PalaceThe Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Lake Vänern, SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. - 19 October – Robert Esnault-PelterieRobert Esnault-PelterieRobert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie was a pioneering French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He was born in Paris, the son of a textile industrialist...
becomes the first pilot to fly using a control stick, at BucBuc, YvelinesBuc is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region.Its inhabitants are called Bucois, Bucoises.-Geography:Buc is located 21 km south west of Paris, France....
, France. - 26 October – Henry Farman sets a world powered heavier-than-air distance record of 771 meters (2,530 ft).
November
- 10 November
- Louis Blériot flies his Blériot VIIBlériot VII|-References:* Devaux, Jean and Michel Marani. "Les Douze Premiers Aéroplanes de Louis Blériot". Pegase No 54, May 1989.* * * -See also:...
monoplaneMonoplaneA monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
, the ancestor of modern tractorTractor configurationthumb|right|[[Evektor-Aerotechnik|Aerotechnik EV97A Eurostar]], a tractor configuration aircraft, being pulled into position by its pilot for refuelling....
monoplanes. - Henry Farman becomes the first EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an to be airborne in a powered heavier-than-air machine for longer than Wilbur Wright's 59 sec. on 17 December 1903 when he flies for 1 min. 14 sec. He covers a distance of 1030 meters (3,379 ft).
- Louis Blériot flies his Blériot VII
- 13 November – Paul CornuPaul CornuPaul Cornu was a French engineer who manufactured bicycles by trade.French engineer Paul Cornu designed the world's first manned rotary wing aircraft and made the first piloted free flight with it at Lisieux, Calvados, France on November 13, 1907. This first flight lifted Cornu about 30 cm ...
makes the first piloted vertical take-off in a rotary-wing aircraft at LisieuxLisieuxLisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The flight lifts Cornu about 30 cm (1 ft 2 in.) and lasts 20 seconds, but is steadied with poles so does not rank as a wholly free flight. - 30 November – Glenn CurtissGlenn CurtissGlenn Hammond Curtiss was an American aviation pioneer and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle then motorcycle builder and racer, later also manufacturing engines for airships as early as 1906...
founds the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor CompanyCurtiss Aeroplane and Motor CompanyCurtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer that went public in 1916 with Glenn Hammond Curtiss as president. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States...
, the first airplane manufacturing company in the United States.
December
- 23 December – The United States Army's Aeronautical Division releases the worlds first specification for a military aircraft issued for commercial tender. The specification calls for an aircraft capable of carrying two passengers with a combined weight of at least 350 lbs (159 kg), with a top speed of at least 40 mph (64 km/h) and a range of at least 125 statute miles (201 km).
Undated
- Work begins on the GnomeGnome et RhôneGnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensees, powering the majority of aircraft in the first half of the war on...
rotary engineRotary engineThe rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...
.
September
- 10 September – Nulli Secundus, the British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's first airshipAirshipAn airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
.
December
- 6 December – First manned flight of the AEA CygnetAEA Cygnet|-Specifications :-See also:...
tethered glider (also referred to as a kite) designed by Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
. The flight is also the first flight for Thomas SelfridgeThomas SelfridgeThomas Etholen Selfridge was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and the first person to die in a crash of a powered airplane. He was a passenger while Orville Wright was piloting the aircraft.-Biography:...
, later killed in the crash of a powered aircraft. - 17 December – Santos-Dumont DemoiselleSantos-Dumont Demoiselle-External links:...
(No 19).