Jean-Marie Le Bris' Artificial Albatross
Jean-Marie Le Bris pictured with his flying machine in 1868, called the Albatros II. The winged craft rests on a wheeled base to move it around at ground level.
Pictured above is a photograph of Jean-Marie Le Bris’ flying machine, called L'Albatros artificiel, which is French for Artificial Albatross. This is the first recorded photograph taken of a flying machine, and it shows Le Bris in the pilot seat of his glider, resting on a wooden cart before take off. This is the second version of his craft, called Albatross II, which was modified from the original version with refinements.
Le Bris was a French sailor and sea captain, and he was inspired to build his machine by studying the flight of the albatross while sailing around the world. He was the first to identify the concept of lift, which he called aspiration. He used this concept in his designs for the first Albatross prototype, which he designed to mimic the proportions of an albatross. He built the first version of his machine in 1856 and had varying success flying with it. Most notably, he made a successful flight on the beach of Sainte-Anne-la-Palud, with Albatross I towed behind a horse-drawn cart. The craft allegedly reached a height of 100 m (330 ft) and covered a distance of 200 m (660 ft). This marked the first ever flight of a heavier-than-air craft that flew higher than its point of departure.
An 1857 flight patent drawing by Jean-Marie Le Bris, showing his winged flying machine with pilot.
After subsequent tests, Albatross I was damaged beyond repair, and Le Bris broke one of his legs after crash landing on the craft’s final flight. Le Bris then set out to build a second version, which appears in the photograph above. This time he had support from the French Navy, and he completed Albatross II in 1868. He flew with varying levels of success in Brest, France, before retiring the craft after it sustained heavy damage from a rough landing. These flights were notable for the controls he developed for the craft. The pilot could adjust hand-operated levers which would change the incidence of the wings. This allowed the wings to catch the wind properly and lift the craft. In addition, the tail could be adjusted with foot-operated pedals.[1]
Illustration of Jean-Marie Le Bris in the second version of his Albatross glider, built in 1868. The machine was able to perform controlled flights with varying success.
Jean-Marie Le Bris and his Artificial Albatross made significant steps in the human quest for flight. Once again, an individual from an unrelated background became obsessed with the dream of human flight. Le Bris, like all of us, had an inner drive to escape the surface of the Earth, and he spent much of his time and energy trying to achieve it.
Read more about other ideas for flying machines here.
[1]: Chanute, Octave. Progress in Flying Machines. New York: The American Engineer and Railroad Journal, 1894. 21.