Émile Dubonnet

Émile Dubonnet

Émile Dubonnet (October 18, 1883 - 1940) was a French balloonist active from 1908 to 1913. He participated in the 1908, 1909, and 1911 Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning and was a member of the Aéro-Club de France.^[1] He won the La Grande Medialle de Aéro-Club de France in 1912. He holds an Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record from 1912-1913.^[2][3][4][5]

Biography

He was born on 18 October 1883 in Paris to a winemaker. In 1910 he flew over Paris in his Tellier brothers aircraft. He started from the Juvisy-sur-Orge field and made a landing at Bois de Boulogne ^[6]

He also helped form the first professional baseball league in France, the French Baseball Union, in 1912.

References

1. "Contestants for Gordon Bennett Cup Start from Zurich" (PDF). New York Times. October 4, 1909. Retrieved 2009-08-07. A beautiful, sunny Autumn day, following yesterday's discouraging downpour, made the start in the international balloon race for the Gordon Bennett Cup to-day a great success from every standpoint. More than 200,000 persons watched the seventeen balloons soar skyward and disappear on the horizon.
2. Pierre Dupont Émile Dubonnet: 1883-1950 1951
3. L'aeronautique vol.11 1929 "Ан début de 1910, son premier aéroplane effectuait des vols sous le pilotage d' Émile Dubonnet, qui réussissait bientôt la seconde traversée, de Paris. Cet appareil Tellier fut, le premier, haubanné de câbles d'acier."
4. La Revue de Paris 1934 "Ce record ne sera battu qu'en 1912, par Émile Dubonnet qui parcourra 1954 kilomètres"
5. Technique Vol.5 1912 - "La Commission de l'Aéro-Club de France a homologué le record de distance pour aérostats sans moteur établi par M. Émile Dubonnet les 7 et 8 janvier 1912"
6. "Dubonnet Flies Over Paris" (PDF). New York Times. April 24, 1910. Retrieved 2009-08-07. Emile Dubonnet, the French aviator, flew over Paris In a monoplane to-day. He started from the Juvisy-sur-Orge field and made a landing at Bois de Boulogne