Source: National Archives & Historic Records of France
Aviation • Historical Archive • 🇫🇷 France • 1 views

Henri Fabre 🇫🇷

Henri Fabre (Known as "Father of the Seaplane")
Aviation Engineer, Inventor of the World's First Successful Seaplane (Le Canard, 1910)
Born Nov 29, 1882 🇫🇷 Marseille, France
Passed Away Jun 30, 1984 Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais), France
Lifespan 101 years old
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Notice / Correction
"The sea and the air are not enemies; when floats mimic the skimming stone, water becomes the gentlest runway."

Archival Overview

Centenarian French engineer and inventor from Marseille who designed and flew the world's very first successful seaplane, the hydro-aeroplane Le Canard, on the Étang de Berre in March 1910.

Biographical Record

Scion of a prominent Marseille maritime shipping family, Fabre graduated in engineering from the École Supérieure d'Électricité. Fascinated by hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, he spent four years testing specialized lightweight wooden floats (hydro-skis) on canals.

On March 28, 1910, at the Étang de Berre near Martigues, Fabre boarded his 50-horsepower Gnome-powered aircraft Le Canard (The Duck). Taking off smoothly from the water surface, he flew 457 meters above the waves and landed safely, completing the world's first motorized flight from water. He lived to be 101 years old.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Saint-Pierre Cemetery
Marseille, France
GPS: 43.2917, 5.4056
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