France has been called the cradle of aviation by many - a fact that
cannot be disputed, although some have tried. By the end of the 19th
century, she led the world in lighter-than-air flight. Any concern about
heavier-than-air flight was dismissed as inevitable, and France would
achieve it in due course. By the time Blériot bravely enquired 'Which
way is England?' the country was ready to redress any perceived
shortfall. Besides leading European aviation, France was the nation that
named all the parts of an aeroplane with words many of which we still
use everywhere today.
France was also the first nation to stage air exhibitions. Unlike their
counterparts in Britain, Germany and America, French designers were
thoroughly entrepreneurial and tried a wide variety of adventurous
styles from pusher to canard and monoplane to multiplane. In 1909 the
first Air Show was held at the Grand Palais. The 'Exposition
Internationale de locomotion aérienne' ushered in what was to become an
enduring tradition. Every year, the aircraft exhibitions were a massive
success. The interior design by André Granet, who since his youth had
been fascinated by flying, was such a success that the Automobile-Club
subsequently commissioned Granet to do the same for the car shows.
It is not surprising that all this derring-do, all these technological
achievements and all this innovation drew reporters and photographers
like moths to a flame. The men, the machines, the places and the events
all were recorded, reported, reproduced and then were filed away.
Hundreds of images appeared in print, but thousands were printed up only
as contact prints from large-format glass negatives and then disappeared
into albums to be forgotten about. In the mid-1990s the author came
across one such treasure-trove; a number of dust-covered albums
containing around five hundred images of aircraft, airships and
expositions - it is doubtful if most have appeared in print before, so
this will probably be the first time the events of these French pioneers
have ever been showcased.
