Background
He was born in Bierville, France on April 2, 1870.
He was born in Bierville, France on April 2, 1870.
From March 1896 to May 1897 he stayed with native tribes in Patagonia, and later wrote a book about this experience. In 1898, he co-founded the Aeronautical Club of France with Ernest Archdeacon, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la Valette, Jules Verne, Honorine de Viane Morel Verne, André Michelin, Albert de Dion, Alberto Santos-Dumont, and Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe. On October 9, 1900 he and a companion set a distance record in a balloon traveling 1200 miles from Vincennes, France to Korostishev near Kiev, Ukraine in 35.75 hours.
In 1905 he cofounded and became a director of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
The FAI now awards the De la Vaulx Medal, named for him. He visited the United States several times for ballooning ventures and the New York Times described him as one of the "most successful and daring balloonists in the world."
He developed airships for the Zodiac company.
He published a dozen books, mostly on aviation. He lived in the castle Rozoy-Bellevalle.
He died on a demonstration flight between Albany and New York City on April 18, 1930 and was buried in the Rozoy-Bellevalle cemetery.
His name was given to a Latécoère 28 famously flown across the South Atlantic by Jean Mermoz. He was often referred to as "comte de Louisiana Vaulx." Comte is a French title analogous to the British title "Count."
His first name is sometimes written as Henri, the usual French spelling, but on the book cover at left, he used the spelling "Henry."
His name is usually alphabetized as Louisiana Vaulx, Henry de.
