Félix du Temple de la Croix (18 July 1823 – 3 November 1890) (usually simply calledFélix du Temple) was a French naval officer and an inventor, born into an ancientNorman family. He developed some of thefirst flying machines and is credited with the first successful flight of a powered aircraft of any sort, a powered model plane, in 1857[1] and is sometimes credited with the first manned powered flight in history aboard hisMonoplane in 1874.[2]
He was a contemporary ofJean-Marie Le Bris.
Félix du Temple entered the French Navy Academy (École Navale) in 1838. He participated in most of the conflicts during theSecond French Empire, especially theCrimean War, the French intervention in Italy against Austria, and theFrench intervention in Mexico.
At the age of 41, he returned to France, became a captain (Capitaine de Frégate), and joined the Loire Army (Armée de la Loire). A partisan of theComte de Chambord and alegitimist (an "Ultra-Royalist"), he was forced to quit the Navy in 1876.
Félix du Temple accomplished the first successful flight of a powered aircraft of any sort, a model plane that was able to take-off under its own power, in 1857.[1][3][4] There are however competing claims for the first "assisted" powered flight, withJohn Stringfellow's experiments in 1848.[5]
Félix du Temple patented the designs for his aerial machine in 1857,[5][6] which incorporated a retractable wheel landing gear, a propeller, a 6 hp engine and adihedral wing design, under the title "Locomotion aérienne par imitation du vol des oiseaux" ("Aerial locomotion by imitation of the flight of birds"). He built several large models together with his brother Luis. One of them, weighing 700 grams[citation needed], was able to fly, first using a clockwork mechanism as an engine,[6] and then using a miniaturesteam engine. The two brothers managed to make the models take off under their own power, fly a short distance and land safely.[1]
As they tried to build a machine capable of carrying a man, they realized that steam engines lacked power and were too heavy. In 1867 they designed an original "hot air" engine, which did not prove satisfactory. They also experimented with the newinternal combustion gas engine design developed byLenoir, but this also lacked the necessary power.
Du Temple continued his research and finally succeeded in creating a very compact high-speed circulation steam engine, for which he applied for a patent on 28 April 1876. The engine used very small pipes packed together "to obtain the highest possible contact surface for the smallest possible volume"[7]
In 1874, the two brothers built theMonoplane, a large plane made ofaluminium inBrest,France, with awingspan of 13 meters and a weight of only 80 kilograms (without the pilot). Several trials were made with the plane, and it is generally recognized that it achieved lift off under its own power after a ski-jump run, glided for a short time and returned safely to the ground, possibly making it the first successful powered flight in history, depending on the definition — since the flight was only a short distance and a short time.[8]
The plane was displayed at the 1878 World Fair (Exposition Universelle (1878)) in Paris.
The plane's engine used a very compact, high-speed circulation steam boiler, theDu Temple boiler, for which Félix du Temple applied for a patent on 28 April 1876. The engine used very small pipes packed together "to obtain the highest possible contact surface for the smallest possible volume".
The original steam engine which had been developed by Félix du Temple was later commercialized by him from a company he established inCherbourg, "Générateur Du Temple S.A." and became highly successful. The design was adopted by theFrench Navy for the propulsion of the first Frenchtorpedo boats:
Following his death in 1890, his successors took over the management of the company. "Générateur Du Temple S.A.", acquired the Lesénéchal company in 1905, and by 1918 had several hundred employees when it was absorbed by the shipbuilding company Société Normande de Construction Navale.
"In general, birds, especially the largest ones, only rise and fly because of an acquired speed: this speed which is necessary to rise is obtained either by running on the ground or on water, or by jumping from a high point. Once arrived at a certain height that allows him to fly horizontally and move forward with just the flap of the wings, he gains speed, spreads his wings and tail so as to form as flat a surface as possible, and thus moves forward without any visible movement of the wings and without falling significantly"
— Félix du Temple.[10]
