Plane - Odd - Easy as riding a bike 1912

by Mike Savad

Title

Plane - Odd - Easy as riding a bike 1912

Artist

Mike Savad

Medium

Photograph - Colorized Photo

Description

Colorized photo from 1912, June 7th
Original Title: France Photo take at Issy les Moulineaux near Paris France
Location: Issy les Moulineaux, France

Welcome to the Aviette contest, held in France. An aviette is a flying bicycle, the goal is to get 1 meter off the ground and from there its the distance that makes you win. They create a large area that is covered in chalk. The rider will then peddle has hard as they can, engage the rudder and fly off the ground. Most never made it that far.

This is Gabriel Poulain, a French champion cyclist, and the winner of two of these contests. This one in 1912, he flew a few meters and won 1000 Francs. Later on however he made history by gliding a good 12 meters, and he won 10,000 Francs.

Even just before the race he was only able to travel about 7 meters, he altered the angle of his wings and was able to achieve the longer distance. He found he needed to peddle at 45kph or at least 3hp to get that lift. The bike itself weighs in at 37 pounds, and he is 167lbs. He planned on making another one with a propeller feeling it will be much easier to get speed that way. And you wouldn't need to be a champion cyclist.

Uploaded

September 18th, 2016

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