science · 18 July 1958 · 66 years ago
death
Died 18 Jul 1958 at age 84 (born 26 May 1874).
French aviator and aircraft designer who developed ailerons (1908) to solve the enormously difficult and dangerous problems of lateral control. His an innovation subsequently came into general use on all planes. His first steps in aircraft design began in 1907 when he ordered his own aircraft incorporating his design modifications of a dihedral in the wings and the reduction of the tail to a single plane. These intuitive rather than scientific modifications were the beginning of a long career in which Farman diagnosed and solved a myriad of aircraft control and structural problems. The Farman “Goliath” was the first long-distance passenger airliner, beginning regular Paris–London flights on 8 Feb 1919. His younger brother Maurice Farman was also an aviator. They were born of English parents in Paris.
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