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Alphonse Pénaud (31 May 1850 – 22 October 1880), was a 19th-century French pioneer of aviation design and engineering. He was the originator of the use of twisted rubber to power model aircraft, and his 1871 model airplane, which he called the Planophore, was the first aerodynamically stable flying model.
- 22 October 1880 (aged 30)
- Aeronautical inventor and engineer
- French
- 31 May 1850, Paris
Nov 30, 2009 · The model flew 131 feet, setting a new record for a flying toy—proving that heavier-than-air flight was possible. 3 Discovered at the beginning of the nineteenth century by George Cayley, but not quite understood, Pénaud was the first to theorize and demonstrate the principle of Inherent Stability.
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The story of Charles Alphonse Pénaud (pronounced pay-know), an early pioneer of model airplanes, deserves to be better known. In fact, this 19th century Frenchman may have been the most influential modeler of all time. Born in 1850 in Paris, Pénaud expected to carry on the family tradition of career maritime service.
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Apr 29, 2024 · Pénaud flew his planophore, as the model was known, in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris on Aug. 18, 1871. The model completed a circular flight of approximately 40 metres (130 feet) in 11 seconds, providing the first public demonstration of genuine stability in a heavier-than-air machine.
Oct 8, 2016 · Decades before the Wright brothers achieved takeoff at Kitty Hawk, Parisian designer Alphonse Pénaud launched an innovative model airplane on an 11-second flight through the Jardin des...
Alphonse Pénaud (1850-1880) was a French pioneer of aircraft design, who is chiefly remembered for having produced a range of quite decent working rubber-band-powered model aircraft in the late C18th, including the model bought for the young Wright Brothers by their mother which inspired them to become aviators.
Another notable French experimenter of this time was Alphonse Penaud. Around 1870 he built a number of high-flying model helicopters, all fashioned after the manner of the Chinese top. Powered with twisted rubber bands, several of his models climbed to heights of more than 50 feet.
