Gabriel Voisin
( Belleville-sur-Saône, 1880 - Ozenay, 1973 )
He gave up architectural studies to devote himself to making "flying machines". On 3 April 1904, he took to the air on Berck beach in his Archdéacon craft. Gabriel and his brother Charles were the first people in France to build planes on an industrial scale.

Raymond Saulnier
( Paris, 1881 - 1964 )
A French engineer, he started out working for Louis Blériot. He founded the Morane-Saulnier corporation with Léon Morane in 1911 and originated the idea of a device synchronizing machine gun fire with propeller movements.

Alberto Santos-Dumont
( Palmyra, 1873 - Sao Paulo, 1932 )
The son of a rich Brazilian estate owner, this engineer and aeronaut was a prominent figure in Parisian society, made popular by caricaturists and photographers. He came to France at a young age and got involved with the rise of aerostation and aviation. On 3 October 1906 he flew 60 meters at Bagatelle and, the same year, notched up the first flight record (220 meters in 21 seconds) on a "duck" type plane (wings at the rear) equipped with an "Antoinette" engine.

Wilbur Wright
( Minville, Indiana, 1867 - Dayton, Ohio, 1912 )
With his brother Orville he made the first powered flight in December 1903. He came to France in 1908 to present the "Wright" model airplane, on which occasion he gave the politicians Paul Painlevé and Paul Doumer their first flights and established several new aviation records.

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