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Alphonse PenaudFrench inventor
Country:
 France |
Content:
Biography of Alphonse Pénaud
Alphonse Pénaud was a French inventor and one of the early creators of self-propelled models of flying machines. He was born in Paris in 1850. In 1871, he presented the "planophore" to the French Society of Aeronautics, which was the first model of a flying machine powered by twisted rubber bands. It flew approximately 40 meters in just 11 seconds. Shortly after, Pénaud built a model helicopter with two counter-rotating feather propellers that reached a height of 15 meters. This model became the prototype for the toy that fascinated the Wright brothers in their childhood and likely influenced their future.
Contributions and Achievements
Pénaud also designed models with flapping wings and was an active member of the French Society of Aeronautics. He published articles, including those dedicated to the mathematical theory of bird flight, in the society's publication, "L'Aéronaute". His most significant achievement was the construction of a monoplane amphibian, for which he obtained a patent in 1876. This aircraft featured a streamlined fuselage, a wing with slight elongation and a thick profile, a load-bearing skin, metal propellers with adjustable pitch, retractable landing gear (including floats for takeoff from water), a closed cockpit for the pilot, a passenger cabin, shock absorbers, and an autopilot. Many of the ideas presented in this patent were only realized after 1930.
Pénaud was also the author of various technical innovations, such as a valve for air balloons, a method for determining the air pressure on different parts of lifting surfaces during flight, and the use of high-speed photography to study flights. The circumstances of Pénaud's death remain unknown, but news of his passing was published in "L'Aéronaute" in November 1880.
