Louis Ferdinand Ferber (February 8, 1862 - September 22, 1909)
Louis Ferber was the greatest forerunner of practical aviation in France. He was the first Frenchman to build life-size gliders and to test them methodically; he attempted to catch up - without their rigorous experimentation but following the same principles - with Lilienthal, Chanute and the Wrights in the experimental cycle which was to lead to power-driven aviation. Ferdinand Ferber was absolutely selfless, giving his leisure, his fortune, and eventually his life to his experiments. He always shared his results, lending his documentation as well as his time to those who were interested.
While an officer with the French Artillery in the rank of Captain, Ferber learned of Lilienthal's work in 1898. After having built three monoplane gliders with no tail which gave discouraging results, in 1901 Ferber started more advanced tests at Nice on his glider No. IV, inspired by Lilienthal's machines. This machine weighed 66 lb (30 kg) and had a wing area of 161 sq.ft (14.96 sq.m). Taking off from some 17 ft (5 m) high scaffolding, Ferber stayed in the air for 24 seconds, and advanced 50 ft (15 m). This glide took place on December 7, 1901.
It was followed by several other tests, but the stability remained uncertain and the flying captain went on to build a biplane glider, No. V, in bamboo, of the same configuration as the Wrights'. In tests at Beuil (Alpes Maritimes) and then at La Californie near Nice between June and September 1902, he covered distances of 25 to 50 yards (23 to 46 m), but the last flight ended with a hard landing owing to inadequate controls. A new biplane was tested at Conquet (Finisterre) with lateral stabilizers forming a keel. Ferber was at last able to acquire a basic understanding of how to control an aircraft. Ferber worked with another French pioneer, Ernest Archdeacon, and they had a number of disciples, including a Gabriel Voisin.
In the meantime, he had had built at La Californie an interesting testing tower consisting of an iron pylon, 60 ft (18 m) high, carrying on a pivot a 100 ft (30 m) cross beam. This device enabled a machine to be held up to the wind at a certain speed, and was also used for testing the traction of propellers. In December 1902, Ferber equipped his glider with a small engine driving two coaxial, contra-rotating traction propellers which later provided him with much valuable information for the design of his power-driven aircraft.
In 1904, Colonel Renard summoned Ferber to Chalais-Meudon; he immediately started gliding flight tests with a sophisticated machine with an elevator in front, and a long stabilizing tail at the rear. Two wing tip rudders increased the stability already improved by the raised wing tips. The glider was launched by means of a pulley running on a taut wire between three posts. A set of wheels was incorporated to facilitate landing. The glides were recorded by a cine-camera. On one glide, Ferber carried his mechanic Burdin, the first passenger on a heavier-than-air machine.
It was in 1905 that the first tractor biplane in history, appeared in Ferber's No. VI aircraft, with a Wright derived forward elevator, ineffectual wing tip rudders, and a fixed rear stabilizing tail plane. Equipped with a Peugeot engine of 12 hp, driving the tractor airscrew that revolved between the elevator outriggers, it had insufficient power for horizontal flight, in fact it was a powered glider. At Chalais-Meudon in May 1905 it made a creditable shallow 'power glide', reducing the angle of descent to 12%. It was the beginning of the tractor tradition, and the beginning of the stable biplane tradition as opposed to the deliberate instability which the Wrights adopted.
Unfortunately, the death of Colonel Renard, administrative regulations and prejudice in military circles against heavier-than-air machines meant that Ferber now met with nothing but obstacles. His new aircraft of 1906 was turned out of the dirigible hangar and destroyed by a storm before he could try it out. Ferber asked for, and obtained, extended leave from the military , and joined the joined the Antoinette company. With Léon Levavasseur, Jules Gastambide and Ferber designed a two-seat machine powered by an Antoinette engine, that was constructed in 1907 by the well-known boat-builder M. Lion.
Ferber's aircraft No. IX appeared in July 1908, and was biplane with a bamboo framework, and had provision for warping the wings, as in the Wright aircraft of that time. It also had a Wright derived forward elevator, a vertical rudder for steering, and was fitted with a 50 hp Antoinette engine. It was first flown on August 12, and a week later made some good hop-flights up to 1,641 ft (500 m). It was not very successful, but it helped to focus attention on the tractor biplane as such.
On January 7, 1909, the Aero Club of France issued a Pilots' Flight Certificate to eight 'aviators', including Louis Blériot, Léon Delagrange, Santos Dumont, Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Henri Farman, Ferdinand Ferber, Orville Wright, and Wilbur Wright. Although now an official pilot, because he was also a serving officer, Ferber entered the demonstration circuit that was started by that time under the pseudonym of 'F. de Rue', flying an acquired Voisin biplane. It was not until July 18, 1909, the aviation society linked the two names, although Ferber kept using the pseudonym till his death.
Ferber was elected and assigned to several committees and projects. In April 1909 he was elected as Honorary Secretary to the Aviation Committee of the Aero Club of France, in May 1909 the Aero Club of France appointed a Committee for the purpose of studying the subject of International signals to be used by aeronauts and aviators for communication; Ferber became a member. The Ligue National Aérienne (formed September 3, 1908) with a school for pilots at the Aerodrome at Juvisy, (also known as 'Porte Aviation'), received Wright Flyers in June 1909, and these were placed under the charge of Ferber.
In August 1909 Captain Ferber received official permission to compete for the Siot Decauville prize for the first French army officer to fly round a circular kilometer (0.62 mile). On August 18, Ferber succeeded to win the prize, which consisted of a bronze figure, La Lionne Blesseé, made by Valton. For the first anniversary of the Ligue National Aérienne (LNA), M. Déjardin offered to the foundation a prize of 1,000 francs. The LNA decided it should be given to the aviator who made the best speed over the circular kilometer up to the anniversary day September 3rd. On that day, Ferber (alias 'F. de Rue') beat M. Delagrange's time of 1 min 19 sec (established May 31) by four seconds. He also flew twice round the course at a height of about 164 ft (50 m).
Ferber also attended the 'Flying Week' at Boulogne-sur-Mer, which was kept on the flying ground between Wimereux and Marquise, in September 1909. On September 22, while taxiing his Voisin, the aircraft overturned, Ferber was pinned under the engine and killed. He became the first French officer victim of aviation, and the third registered aviation victim.
As a memorial to Captain Ferber, a high monolith surmounted by a bronze flying eagle was erected at Boulogne-sur-Mer, that was unveiled by the French Inspector-General of Aeronautics General Roques on July 9, 1911. In June 1910, the Minister of War announced that one of the newly ordered Zodiac dirigibles was to be named 'Capitaine Ferber'; it first flew on December 6, 1911. In January 1914, the Paris Municipal Council named a street in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Seine, 'Rue du Capitaine-Ferber'.