Leo Valentin

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Leo Valentin (1919-1956) was a French adventurer, who attepted to achieve human flight using bird-like wings. Léo Valentin is widely considered to be the most famous "birdman" of all time.^[1]^{[citation needed]}

1 Biography
2 Death
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Leo Valentin was born in France, and he always had keen interest in airplanes. His ultimate dream was to be able to fly like the birds, and read avidly about airplanes and gliders. At the outbreak of the Second World War he planned to become a fighter pilot but due to a relatively longer time, he opted to train as a paratrooper. He participated as a paratrooper during World War II.

After the war he directed his attention towards his lifelong ambition of flying like a bird. At Villacoublay airfield, near Paris, Valentin attempted his first "wing jump" using wings made of canvas, but he failed to achieve any forward speed. He then tried rigid wings to prevent the wings from collapsing. During May 1954, with the help of a set of rigid wooden wings, he finally managed some kind of stability with the initial spiral. Valentin later claimed that he managed to fly for 3 miles using his wooden wings. ^[2]

[edit] Death

In 1956 Valentin was scheduled to perform at an air show Liverpool, using the similar wooden wings that brought him success in past. However the stunt went wrong right from the jump, when a part of his wings fell off, after contact while exiting the plane from which he jumped. Valentin's attempt to land safely using a parachute failed too, and he died after failing to properly open the parachute.^[3]