The Turning Point
The picture on the right is Pal Cornu. He was a bicycle maker, but not your normal, average bicycle maker. Paul Cornu was a pioneer of modern physics, weaponry and flight.
"On November 13, 1907, another French pioneer, bicycle maker Paul Cornu, lifted a better designed twin-rotored helicopter into the air for about twenty seconds. Cornu’s machine consisted of four bi- cycle wheels supporting a puny framework that mounted a two- bladed rotor system at either end. An Antoinette 24-horsepower air- plane engine drove the rotors through a system of belts. Cornu compensated for torque with counter-rotating rotors. Auxiliary wings provided rudimentary control, and, although controllability remained questionable, his flight went on record as the first con-trolled vertical free flight."
- Stanley S. McGowen, Author of Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact (Weapons and Warfare), (2005)
Paul Cornu's helicopter was the first to make a free flight on its own with a pilot inside, a huge milestone in helicopter history.
"On November 13, 1907, another French pioneer, bicycle maker Paul Cornu, lifted a better designed twin-rotored helicopter into the air for about twenty seconds. Cornu’s machine consisted of four bi- cycle wheels supporting a puny framework that mounted a two- bladed rotor system at either end. An Antoinette 24-horsepower air- plane engine drove the rotors through a system of belts. Cornu compensated for torque with counter-rotating rotors. Auxiliary wings provided rudimentary control, and, although controllability remained questionable, his flight went on record as the first con-trolled vertical free flight."
- Stanley S. McGowen, Author of Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact (Weapons and Warfare), (2005)
Paul Cornu's helicopter was the first to make a free flight on its own with a pilot inside, a huge milestone in helicopter history.
Paul CornuPaul Cornu was from Lisieux, France. It was in Lisieux where history was made.
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