Félix du Temple de la Croix, born in 1823, was a French naval officer who devoted much of his life to developing flying machines.
In 1857, du Temple patented a design for locomotion aérienne par imitation du vol des oiseaux (“aerial locomotion by imitating the flight of birds”), which he called Canot planeur (“glider boat”). This steam-powered aeroplane featured dihedral wings, a propeller and retractable wheeled landing gear. However, its engine produced only 6 hp, and du Temple soon realised this was insufficient to carry a pilot.
Félix and his brother, Louis du Temple, built several models of the aircraft, powered by both clockwork mechanisms and steam engines. On 20th September 1857, one of such models successfully took off and landed safely after covering a short distance.
It was the first, officially recorded flight of a powered aircraft of any kind – though it was neither controlled nor manned.
Full story here.
Cover photo: patent drawing of Canot planeur (Wikipedia, Public Domain)
