Unknown to the busy inhabitants of Kuala Lumpur,  the Eoles still return to frolic in the warm summer smog.
 
 
 
 

This page started as a result of Andre Petit's  irresistible pictures of Clement  Ader's  Eole.  The cyber collage at the top of the page is a product of these pix. -----------o---------- The Model No - I didn't build this model. I'd love to say I did, but I didn't. Emmanuel Fillon did - The very same Emmanuel Fillon who won the Wakefield Cup in 1937. He's still at it. Amazing!! It's a nine inch long Peanut. Andre Petit says that while he doesn't know what kind of times it gets,  it is capable of flying in the French "scale peanut" event, which requires the plane to ROG and fly 20 seconds. Perhaps we'll hear from M. Fillon. I think these pre-Wright-Brother hoppers, flops, wannabes and maybe-weres make some of the best looking models and this one proves it.  The pictures speak for themselves. I believe M. Fillion's  plans are available from Bill Hannan at Hannan's Runway ----------o---------- Clement Ader Clement Ader was a respected French inventor  who lived from 1841 to 1925.  There are strange parallels between Langley and Clement Ader Both were respected and competent inventors. M. Clement’s work with early telephones and his invention of stereo alone assure his place among the great nineteenth century inventors. Langley’s contributions to astronomy and his invention of  the bolometer are likewise worthy 19th century accomplishments.  Both built airplanes that ... 1) Even by the standards of the age they look totally preposterous to our eyes.  2) Crashed 3) Were expensive examples of high craftsmanship. In both cases the engines were engineering triumphs  4) Had backing from the military 5) Both found themselves entangled in the Wright Bros. lawsuits 6) Both tried steam power. Langley for his early models and Ader for all his airplanes. 7) Odd notion of what was required to control the plane . ----------o---------- The Airplanes As often happens I soon found myself entangled in merry research on this amazing airplane. What a fine contraption. This thing really presses my buttons.  I even like that it looks like the result of congress between a pterodactyl and an outhouse.  The Eole was his first airplane.  He started to build a 2nd plane which he named the Avion, a word he coined as an Acronym for "Appareil Volant Imitant les Oisaux Naturels" — Flying Machine Imitating Natural Birds. He never finished it. Then he built a larger machine financed by the  French military , the Avion III     What a  predicament for the pilot! His knees up against the boiler. The ittybitty window. The confusing collection of ergonomicless controls.   Eole Avion #3 Wing area 28 sq. m. 56 sq m. Span 14 m. 16 m. Length 6.5 m  Not Given Weight of power plant 51 kg. 117 kg Weight  of Airframe 175.5 kg   Weight, all up with pilot   appr 400 kg Wing Bat form- Could be folded for storage Similar to Eole Control 1) No elevator, no rudder.  2) A swing wing device allowed the center of pressure to be shifted by the action of a handcrank that required  many turns to effect any considerable change. Each wing was operated separately. 3) Two more cranks could increase or decrease the wing area. 4) Another pair of cranks varied the camber. 5) A foot pedal that flexed the wings up and down without appreciably changing the incidence -Linked so one wing would rise as the other fell. 6) The controls for the power plant   1) Small rudder operated by pedals linked to rear wheel (note) Ader chose to test the Avion on a circular track 2) The swing wing control now linked with a single slow handcrank 3)2 sets of controls for the power plant and a differential speed control.  Engine Very light 20 hp condensing compound engine designed by Ader. Developed 15 kg/hp And a boiler * 2 such  engines  and a boiler described in Flight magazine (1/2/09)  as follows.. Multitube alcohol fired boiler rated at 40 hp at 10 atmospheres.  Each engine had 2 high-pressure cylinders and 2 low-pressure cylinders 65 mm x 100 mm bore  x 100 mm stroke , developed 20 hp at 600 rpm and weighed 21 kg   Airscrew 4 bladed feathering and folding propeller. The blades were intricately constructed on the lines of bird feathers 2 such propellors -counter rotating and overlapping  Pilot Position Sitting behind the boiler probably in an enclosed cockpit with two side windows Sitting behind the now larger boiler- open cockpit - view blocked by boiler Ader's Claims Clement Ader claimed to have flown at least 4 times. 1) Oct 9 1890  an uncontrolled 50 meter flight, in the Eole 2) Sept  1891  an appr 100 meter flight, in the Eole 3) Oct 12 1897  left the ground testing the Avion III 4) Oct 14 1897 flew an uncontrolled  flight of  300 meters in the Avion III While the whole issue is drenched in acrimony and disputation, the majority consensus seems to be that only the claim for first flight has merit.. This would still make him the first person to have taken off with a self powered airplane. .I am by no means qualified to comment on these claims. And I won't.

This is the Avion III on exhibit at the Paris Exposistion Universelle