Military Aviation
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^»Wr.«lli»Hiltei.M.IWii»MiLhl DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: T|lil™ilPw ^^mm^'10^' Jip-"W * "WWW Approved for Public Release ■ Distribution Unlimited Military Aviation Air University Press Team Chief Editor Emily Adams Copy Editor Lula Barnes Cover Art and Book Design Steven C. Garst Composition and Prepress Production Maty P. Ferguson Quality Review Joan Dawson Print Preparation Joan Hickey Distribution Diane Clark Military Aviation by CLEMENT ADER Edited and Translated by LEE KENNETT Air University Press Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama July 2003 20030929 092 Air University Library Cataloging Data Ader, Clement, 1841-1925. Military aviation / by Clement Ader ; edited and translated by Lee Kennett. p. ; cm. Includes bibliographical references. Originally published Paris : Berger-Levrault, 1909. ISBN 1-58566-118-X 1. Aeronautics, Military. 2. Aeronautics, Military—FYance. I. Title. II. Keimett, LeeB. 358.4—dc21 Disclaimer Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Air Force, the De- partment of Defense, or any other US government agency. Cleared for public release: distribu- tion unlimited. Air University Press 131 West Shumacher Avenue Maxwell AFB AL 36112-6615 http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil Contents Page DISCLAIMER n ABOUT THE EDITOR AND TRANSLATOR v BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE vii FOREWORD ix ABOUT THE AUTHOR—CLEMENT ADER, 1841-1925 xi THE ORIGINAL BOOK Introduction 3 Letters Cited in the Introduction 13 Note No. 1, Airplanes 19 Note No. 2, Bases 31 Note No. 3, Naval Airplanes 35 Note No. 4, Vertical Artillery 41 Note No. 5, Air Lanes 45 Note No. 6, Schools of Aviation and Airplane Design and Construction 63 Note No. 7, Air Strategy 69 III Page Photographs Clement Ader x Clement Ader xxii Eole 2 IV About the Editor and Translator Lee Kennett received his doctorate in history from the Uni- versity of Virginia and spent most of his teaching career at the University of Georgia, retiring there as Research Professor of History in 1993. In the course of his career he held three Ful- bright professorships, served as Lindbergh Professor at the National Air and Space Museum, and taught at the Sorbonne (Paris TV) and at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (4th Section), where he holds the title of directeur d'etudes associe. In 1994 he was decorated by the French government for "ser- vices to French culture." Dr. Kennett's research interest spans the last three cen- turies and includes both American and European military in- stitutions. His publications on the history of military aviation include A History of Strategic Bombing (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982) and The Eirst Air Wan 1914-1918 (New York: Free Press, 1991), as well as articles in American and European publications. He edited and contributed to French Military Aviation: A Bibliographical Guide, written in collabora- tion with General de Brigade Aerierme Charles Christienne, Patrick Facon, and Patrice Buffotot (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989). His work under contract with the US Air Force includes the opening chapter in Case Studies in the Development of Air Support, edited by Benjamin Franklin Cooling (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1990) and the concluding chapter of Case Studies in Strategic Bom- bardment, edited by R. Cargill Hall (Washington, D.C.: US Air Force History and Museums Program, 1998). Bibliographical Note After its first appearance in 1909, L'Aviatton militaire en- joyed considerable popularity; in the five years between its re- lease and the outbreak of the First World War it went through 10 editions, each of which contained new material as heavier- than-alr flight progressed from dream to reality and Ader found more to say. In addition he authored three other books: the first. La premiere etappe de Vaviatton militaire (Jhe First Stage of Military Aviation), published in 1907, recounted in some 70 pages his work on his succession of aircraft designs. His Avionnerie militaire. Pointage aerien, published in 1912, appeared during the Balkan Wars, the first conflict in which aircraft were used. Fittingly, the book dealt with avionnerie, a term that never caught on, which Ader coined for the techni- cal aspects of military aircraft. This book also considered con- struction and maintenance of military aircraft. The treatment of pointage aerien or bomb aiming contains Ader's ideas on the bombsight. Finally, Les verites sur I'utilisation de Vaviation mU.- itaire avant et pendant la guerre (1919), contains several plans Ader devised for the use of alrpower during the First World War, plans which the French high command rather consis- tently Ignored. Ader left behind a considerable mass of manuscript mate- rial, of which the most interesting part is held by the Musee de I'Alr et de I'Espace at Le Bourget, just outside of Paris; the mu- seum's holdings include some 3,000 manuscript pages in Ader's hand, often containing the inventor's sketches. Scrib- bled in pencil and undated, they were essentially Ader's notes to himself and would be a considerable challenge to a re- searcher consulting them. Also in the museum is Ader's re- stored Avion No. 3. Not surprisingly, most of the works written about Ader are in French; in keeping with his celebrity In his own country, many of the books and articles are more distinguished by their popular appeal than by their solid grounding in research on the man and his work. In a class by Itself is the memoir of Ull Georges de Manthe, Ader's son-in-law: Clement Ader, sa vie, son oeuvre (Paris: Privat, 1936). Fortunately there are three lengthy studies of the man and his accomplishments by eminent specialists. The first is by Charles Gibbs Smith, a distinguished British historian of early flight: Clement Ader, His Claims and His Place in History (Lon- don: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968). The second is by the dean of French aviation historians, Charles DoUfus, whose appreciation of Ader fills an entire issue of the French aviation journal Icare, no. 68, spring 1974. Most recently Ader's story has been told again in Clement Ader, inventeur d'avions (Paris: Bibliotheque Historique Privat, 1990), by Gen Pierre Lissarrague of the Armee de I'Air. General Lissairrague wrote with an un- rivalled hands-on knowledge of Ader's work; a former director of the Musee de I'Air et L'Espace, he more recently directed the restoration of Ader's Avion No. 3. vm Foreword When the names of pioneers of human flight are evoked, that of Clement Ader does not spring immediately to mind. The rea- sons are various: he was reticent, even secretive, about his work; what he wrote and what was written about him were rarely- translated into English; then like his contemporary and fellow countryman Louis Mouillard, he believed nature held the key to human flight: a flying machine should take as its model a flying creature. If pursued too far, effort in this direction generally led to failure, and ultimately to ridicule for those who persisted in it. Even today it is hard to resist a smile when reading a description of Ader's "glider" of the 1870s, with its birdlike silhouette and its wings covered with thousands of goose feathers. But Ader also foUowed another path, one where he was vir- tually alone in the last decade of the nineteenth century: even before the first warplane took to the air, he composed a re- markable treatise on militaiy aircraft and their use, and on that broader concept we have come to call airpower. Like his aircraft designs, his L'Aviation milttaire may provoke smiles from time to time, but it also stirs admiration for the remark- able gift of prescience Its author often displayed. The book appeared in successive editions, growing larger and more technical as its author incorporated various developments in aviation. But the first edition remains the most remarkable and the most evocative. That slim volume, offered here in Eng- lish translation, contains ideas formed for the most part in the last decade of the nineteenth century, arranged in final form by the author in 1907, and published in 1909 by the Paris pub- lisher Berger-Levrault. Since there is no biography of Ader in English, a brief outline of his life is offered here by way of intro- duction. The text of Ader's work is reproduced in its entirety, in- cluding various notes he added; the editor and translator has ap- pended explanatory notes and a brief bibliographical notice. Lee Kennett DC Service Hlslorlque de rArmee de I'Air Clement Ader About the Author Clement Ader, 1841-1925 Clement Ader was bom on 2 April 1841 In the small town of Muret, located in southeastern France, not far from Toulouse. It is worth noting that he was an only child; in his early years he was accustomed to playing alone, and in maturity he essentially worked alone. He confessed that as a small child he was already fascinated with all flying things and spent much time studying them. E)very winged insect, bat, or sparrow that came into his hands received the most careful scrutiny. He coaxed some of the insects into fl5mig with their wings enlarged by means of pieces of paper glued on—resulting in the first of many disappoint- ments Ader would know in this line of research. And the same disappointment came with his earliest attempts to fly, those of a small boy, arms outstretched in a "bird suit" of his own con- trivance, running downhill into a strong breeze. These attempts were made alone and at night, in a preoccupation with privacy that would also find expression in Ader's later years.