- Henri Giffard
Henri Giffard (1825-1882) was a French engineer.
Giffard invented the
injector and the poweredairship with a steam engine weighing over 400 lb; it was the world's first passenger-carrying airship (known as aDirigible ). [ [http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/to%20reality/Jules%20Henri%20Giffard.htm "Jules Henri Giffard"] , Century of Flight, AccessedMarch 14 ,2008 .] Both practical and steerable, the hydrogen-filled airship was equipped with a 3 hp steam engine that drove a propeller. Theengine was fitted with a downward pointing funnel. The exhaust stream was mixed in with the combustion gases and it was hoped by these means to stop sparks rising up to the gas bag; he also installed a vertical rudder.On
24 September ,1852 Giffard made the first powered and controlled flight traveling 27 km fromParis toTrappes . [ [http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I009/10237471.aspx?keywords=henri+giffard "Henri Giffard"] ScienceMuseum.Org, AccessedMarch 14 ,2008 .] The wind was too strong to allow him to make way against it, so he was unable to return to the start. However he was able to make turns and circles, proving that a powered airship could be steered and controlled.In response to his declining eyesight, Giffard committed
suicide in 1882, leaving his estate to the nation for humanitarian and scientific purposes. His name is one of the 72 names on theEiffel tower .Notes & References
External links
* [http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/080304-first-flight.html Who Was the First Person to Fly?] - discusses Henri Giffard's first powered flight, "LiveScience.com", March 4, 2008
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