Gabriel Voisin (February 5, 1880[1] – December 25, 1973[1]) was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France. During World War I, Gabriel Voisin became a major producer of military aircraft, notably the Voisin III. Later on, he switched to design and production of exceptional automobiles under the name Avions Voisin.
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He was born at Belleville-sur-Saône,[1] France, and his brother Charles Voisin, two years younger than him, was his main childhood companion. When his father abandoned the family, his mother, Amélie, took her sons home to Neuville-sur-Saône, where they settled near her father's factory.[2]
Their grandfather, Charles Forestier, took charge of the boys' education with military rigor. The boys also went for expeditions along the river, went fishing, and built numerous contraptions. When his grandfather died, Gabriel was sent to school in Lyon and Paris where he learned industrial design, a field in which Voisin claims to have been exceptionally gifted. However, he often returned home, and by the end of the century, the brothers had built, among other things, a rifle, a steam boat, and an automobile.[2]
After completing his studies at the "Ecole des Beaux Arts de Lyon" in 1899 he joined an architectural firm in Paris. Here he saw the Clément Ader Avion III, which was displayed at the Paris International Exposition of 1900. This awakened an interest in the problem of powered flight. After nine months of military service, in February 1904 he attended a lecture given by Captain Ferdinand Ferber,[3] one of the leading figures in French aviation circles at the time. After the lecture Voisin approached Ferber, and was given an introduction to Ernest Archdeacon, the leading promoter and financial supporter of early French aviation, and Archdeacon hired him to test fly the Wright-type glider that he had had built.[4] These tests took place at Berck-sur-Mer in April 1904, and some short flights of around 20 m (66 ft) were achieved. Archdeacon then comissioned Voisin to build another glider of similar design, but differing in the addition of a fixed horizontal stabiliser behind the wings, in addition to its front-mounted elevator. This was tested at Issy-les-Moulineaux on 26 March 1905 by towing it into the air using Archdeacon's automobile. Fortunately the test was unmanned—the pilot's place being taken by 50 kg (110 lb) of ballast—for the aircraft suffered a structural failure and crashed. It was not rebuilt.
He then designed and built a glider equipped with floats for Archdeacon. This machine marks the first use of Hargrave cells, used both for the empennage and the wings of the glider. Voisin successfully flew this aircraft on 8 June 1905, the aircraft being towed into the air behind a motor boat on the river Seine between the Billancourt and Sevres bridges, managing a flight of about 600 m (2,000 ft). While working on this aircraft Voisin had been approached by Louis Blériot, who asked him to build him a similar machine, later known as the Bleriot II. This differed principally in having a smaller span lower wing, resulting in the outer 'side-curtains' between upper and lower wings being angled outwards. After this first flight Bleriot suggested to Voisin that they form a partnership to build aircraft, and so Voisin ended his association with Archdeacon's syndicate. Voisin attempted flights in both aircraft on 18 July 1905. Although the weather was unsuitable, with a strong crosswind, Voisin decided to attempt to fly the aircraft since it was difficult to obtain the necessary permission to use the river. Voisin made a short flight in his glider and then attempted a flight in Bleriot's glider. The glider took off quickly, but Voisin was not able to control the aircraft and it crashed into the river. Voisin was trapped inside and was lucky to escape drowning.[5] Louis Bleriot's cine footage of this experiment survives in the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum.
The next aircraft built by Voisin for Bleriot during 1906, the Bleriot III, was a tandem biplane powered by an Antoinette engine driving two tractor propellers with the wings formed into a closed ellipse as seen from the front: according to Voisin's account, Bleriot had originally wanted the lifting surfaces to be circular in front elevation, having experimented with models of this form, and the adoption of their eventual form was the result of a compromise between the two men[6]. This aircraft was unsucessful, as was its subsequent modification (the Blériot IV) in which the forward wing was replaced by a conventional biplane arrrangement, and a second engine added. Experiments were made first with floats and then with a wheeled undercarriage, and the aircraft was wrecked in a taxying accident at Bagatelle on the morning of 12 November 1906. Later that day, also at Bagatelle, Alberto Santos-Dumont succeeded in flying his 14-bis canard biplane for a distance of over 100 metres. After the failure of this machine Voisin and Blériot dissolved their partnership, and Voisin set up a company with his brother Charles Voisin to design and manufacture aircraft.
Appareils d'Aviation Les Frères Voisin was the the world's first[1] commercial airplane factory. At this time aspiring European aviators were in fierce competition to be the first to achieve powered heavier-than-air flights. Until Wilbur Wright's flying demonstrations at Le Mans (France) in August 1908 many people did not believe[7] the claims of the Wright brothers to have achieved sustained flights. For instance, that the Wrights' Flyer III had flown 24 miles (38.9 km) in 39 minutes 23 seconds on October 5, 1905.[8]
Santos-Dumont's flights in the 14-bis were Europe's first officially observed and verified heavier-than-air powered flights.[7] Despite its fame, all that the 14-bis could achieve was a short flight on a straight line. It had no potential beyond that and it was quickly abandoned.[7]
Two identical[9] pusher biplane machines, with Antoinette engines, had been built by the Voisin brothers for two early aviation pioneers, one for Leon Delagrange in March 1907,[7] and the second for his friend and rival Henry Farman in October 1907.[7][10] The latter biplane became known as the Voisin-Farman I,[11] and it was flown by Farman to win a prize for making the first one-kilometer closed-circuit flight. Both Farman and Delagrange won great fame using these aircraft, leap-frogging each other with aviation records.[12] The Voisins' machines became widely known as Europe's first successful aircraft,[7] although in those times of rapid progress they were quickly superseded by new designs.
Later Farman modified[7] and improved the Voisin pusher biplane considerably. He eventually ended his cooperation with the Voisin brothers, following a disagreement,[7] and shifted to manufacturing his own designs which became very successful.
In 1909, Gabriel Voisin became the youngest Knight of the French Legion of Honor .
He married Adrienne-Lola Bernet in 1909, and they had one daughter, Janine.
The Voisin brothers continued the expansion of their factory resulting for example in the Canard Voisin of 1911.
Gabriel Voisin was greatly affected by the death of his brother Charles in 1912 in an automobile accident near Belleville-sur-Saone, but he continued the expansion of the Boulogne-Billancourt factory, under the changed name Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G. Voisin.
After 1912, the factory shifted its manufacturing and sales towards supplying the French military. As the World War I erupted, Gabriel Voisin immediately volunteered for service with French air corps.[13] The Voisin III, a two-seater pusher biplane with a 120 hp Salmson radial engine, was extensively used for bombing and observation missions during World War I. It had a light steel frame and thus could be stationed outdoors. The Voisin III was built in large numbers (about 1,000[14]) between 1914 and 1916 and sold not only to the French air services but also to other allies, including Russia. The Type VIII (about 1,100 planes built) and Type X (about 900 planes built) were delivered in 1917 and 1918. Those last to appear Voisin military aircraft were almost identical in appearance to the Voisin III, although they were heavier and featured twice as powerful Peugeot and Renault engines. They also had a longer range and carried almost twice the bomb load of their predecessor. A complete and original Voisin Type VIII bomber aircraft is preserved in excellent condition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington,D.C. It is the oldest preserved bomber aircraft in the world.
Gabriel Voisin abandoned aviation, citing[15] the trauma of the military use of his more advanced airplanes (the Voisin III) during the war in addition to the then embryonic demand for civilian aircraft. From then until 1958, he concentrated his efforts on making automobiles[15] under the brand of Avions Voisin. His early cars were some of the finest luxury vehicles in the world, with unique technical details. Many of them won in competition. However, the luxury car market shrank in the late 1930s because of depressed economic conditions and he closed down his factory. After 1945, he turned his attention to designing a minimalist car for the masses, the Biscooter, thousands of which were produced under licence in Spain during the 1950s as the Biscúter. Today, his pre-war luxury automobiles have become highly prized by collectors, both in Europe and in the USA.
In 1960, he retired in his country house,"La Cadolle" at Le Villars, near Tournus on the banks of the Saône river, where he wrote his memoirs. A few years later, in 1965, he was made a Commander of the Legion d'Honneur. He died in 1973[15] in Ozenay, Saône-et-Loire at the age of 93 and was buried at Le Villars . He was the creator of some of the earliest functional flying machines in the world, and an artist in the field of luxury automobiles. His idiosyncratic style and his obsession with feminine conquests have not diminished the achievements of Gabriel Voisin.