Ader Eole

Clement Ader's first attempt on powered flight was a modest succes. Its single steam engine was too heavy and insufficiently powerful to truly get the aircraft airborne... fortunately. Ader had made no attempt in providing some means of flight control, so a take off would inevitably have ended in a crash. Its achievement (it is 1890 !) is remarkable nonetheless. He even decided he could do better and constructed an improved version, the Avion III.

(cardboard model - construction and composite picture by Guido Van Roy)