Ader Eole

Picture - Clement Ader's Avion French patent 205155, 19 April 1890.

The Ader x‰ole, also called Avion, was an early steam-powered aircraft. The x‰ole was named after the Greco-Roman wind god Aeolos. It was developed by Clément Ader in 1890. Unlike many early flying machines, the x‰ole did not attempt to fly by flapping its wings, but was to rely on the lift generated by its wings (mechanical copies of bat wings). Its steam engine was an unusually light weight design and drove a propeller at the front of the aircraft. The machine lacked means for the pilot to control the direction of flight.

On October 9, 1890, the machine achieved a short flight of around 50 m (164 ft) at the Chateau d'Armainvilliers in Brie. It reached a height of around 20 cm (8 in). The poor power-to-weight ratio of the steam engine and bad weather were felt to limit the flying height achieved. Ader later claimed to have flown the x‰ole again in September 1891, this time to a distance of 100 m (328 ft), but this claim is less substantiated.

The x‰ole is considered by some to be the first true aeroplane, given that it left the ground under its own power and carried a person through the air for a short distance; and therefore consider the event of October 9 to be the first flight. However, the lack of directional control and the dead-end that steam-powered aircraft were doomed to reach weigh against these claims. Ader's proponents have claimed that the Wrights' early airplanes required a catapult to take off; however, the Wrights did not use a catapult for their first flights in 1903, though they did for many flights in 1904 and later.

Picture - Patent drawings of Clement Ader's Eole

Modern attempts to recreate and evaluate the craft have met with mixed results. A full-size replica built in 1990 at the x‰cole Centrale Paris crashed on its first flight, injuring its pilot and leading to the termination of the experiment. Scale models, however, have been successfully flown.

Specifications (x‰ole)

General characteristics

Crew: one, pilot
Length: 6.50 m (21 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Height: ()
Wing area: 28 m² (301 ft²)
Empty weight: 226 kg (497 lb)
Loaded weight: 330 kg (727 lb)
Powerplant: 1x— Ader alcohol-burning steam engine, 15 kW (20 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 252 km/h (knots, 158 mph)
Range: 50 m (164 ft)
Service ceiling: 20 cm (8 in)
Wing loading: 8 kg/m² (2.4 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 0.05 kW/kg (0.03 hp/lb)

Alexander Mozhaysky, a Russian inventor who also designed a steam-powered plane.

More airplanes.

Source: WikiPedia