Background
Pénaud was born on May, 31, 1850 in Paris. He was from a naval family, his father being an admiral in the French Navy.
(Photograph Description: Alphonse Penaud design for twin-p...)
Photograph Description: Alphonse Penaud design for twin-propeller monoplane with large wing Related Names: Chanute, Octave, 1832-1910. Date Created Published: 1894 Notes:. Illus. in: Progress in flying machines by O. Chanute, C.E. New York : The American Engineer and Railroad Journal, 1894. Published in: The tradition of technology : Landmarks of Western technology... Leonard C. Bruno. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1995, p. 255. Subjects: Pénaud, Alphonse,--1850-1880. Monoplanes--1870-1880. Book illustrations--1890-1900. Photomechanical prints--1890-1900.
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Pénaud was born on May, 31, 1850 in Paris. He was from a naval family, his father being an admiral in the French Navy.
Because of a the disease Alphonse walked with the aid of crutches and so was unable to attend the Naval School. At 20, he began studying aviation and joined the newly founded Société Aéronautique de France. He became vice-president of the Society in 1876 and participated in the publication of the journal L'Aéronaute.
PénaudPenaud devoted his career to aeronautical research. In 1871 he demonstrated his planophore, the firstmodel to use twisted rubber bands for power, before the SociétéSociete FrançaiseFrancaise de Navigation Aérienne. Aerienne. It was a monoplane mounted on a stick, with a smaller tail plane and a pusher propeller. It flew 131 feet (40 meters) in 11 seconds. His helicopter model consisted of two counter-rotating rotors made of feathers, and it was capable of reaching an altitude of about 50 feet (15 meters). It was a commercial toy based on his design that helped to interest the Wright brothers in flight when they were boys. PénaudPenaud experimented also with a flapping-wing model. He was an active and outstanding member of the SociétéSociete FrançaiseFrancaise de Navigation AérienneAerienne and contributed a number of papers to its official organ, L'Aéronaute. L'Aeronaute. These included an essay on the mathematical theory of bird flight. One of his most remarkable achievements was his design for a monoplane amphibian, patented in 1876, incorporating a streamlined hull, a thick wing section of high-aspect ratio, stressed skin construction, controllable-pitch metalpropellers, retractable landing gear, highly polished finish for less air resistance, enclosed cockpit and cabin, shock absorbers, full instrumentation, including an automatic pilot, and single stick control. Provision was made for the hull to be stepped for water takeoffs, the steps being retractable. Many of the ideas in Pénaud'sPenaud's patent have come into general use only since about 1930. PénaudPenaud is credited with many inventions, including a balloon valve, methods of determining air pressures on parts of planes in flight, and methods of studying flight by high-speed photography. He is thought to have shot himself in despondency over his inability to get his airplane built and flown.
(Photograph Description: Alphonse Penaud design for twin-p...)
He was an active and outstanding member of the Société française de navigation aérienne and contributed a number of papers to its official organ.