Gabriel Voisin Gabriel Voisin ( February 5 , 1880 – December 25 , 1973 ) was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe ' s first manned , engine - powered , heavier - than - air aircraft capable of a sustained ( 1 km ) , circular , controlled flight , including take - off and landing . It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13 , 1908 near Paris , France . During World War I , Gabriel Voisin became a major producer of military aircraft , notably the Voisin III . Subsequently he switched to the design and production of luxury automobiles under the name Avions Voisin . Early life . Gabriel Voisin was born at Belleville - sur - Saône , France , and his brother Charles Voisin , two years younger than him , was his main childhood companion . When his father abandoned the family , his mother , Amélie , took her sons home to Neuville - sur - Saône , where they settled near her father ' s factory . Their grandfather , Charles Forestier , took charge of the boys ' education with military rigor . The boys also went for expeditions along the river , went fishing , and built numerous contraptions . When his grandfather died , Gabriel was sent to school in Lyon and Paris where he learned industrial design , a field in which Voisin claims to have been exceptionally gifted . He often returned home , and by the end of the century the brothers had built , among other things , a rifle , a steam boat and an automobile . Early flying experiments . After completing his studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts de Lyon in 1899 , he joined an architectural firm in Paris . Here he saw the Clément Ader Avion III , which was displayed at the Paris International Exposition of 1900 . This awakened an interest in the problems of powered flight . After nine months of military service , in February 1904 , he attended a lecture given by Captain Ferdinand Ferber , one of the leading figures in French aviation circles at the time . After the lecture Voisin approached Ferber and was given an introduction to Ernest Archdeacon , the leading promoter and financial supporter of early French aviation , and Archdeacon hired him to test fly the Wright - type glider that he had had built . The tests took place at Berck - sur - Mer in April 1904 , and some short flights of around were achieved . Archdeacon then commissioned Voisin to build another glider of similar design , but differing in having a fixed horizontal stabiliser behind the wings , in addition to its front - mounted elevator . This was tested at Issy - les - Moulineaux on 26 March 1905 by towing it into the air using Archdeacon ' s automobile . Fortunately , the test was unmanned , the pilot ' s place being taken by of ballast : the aircraft suffered a structural failure and crashed . It was not rebuilt . Voisin then designed and built a glider equipped with floats for Archdeacon . This aircraft marks the first use of Hargrave cells , used both for the empennage and the wings . Voisin successfully flew it on 8 June 1905 , having been towed into the air behind a motor boat on the river Seine between the Billancourt and Sèvres bridges , managing a flight of about . While working on this aircraft Voisin had been approached by Louis Blériot , who asked him to build him a similar machine , later known as the Bleriot II . This differed principally in having a smaller span lower wing , resulting in the outer ' side - curtains ' between upper and lower wings being angled outwards . After this first flight Bleriot suggested to Voisin that they form a partnership to build aircraft , and so Voisin ended his association with Archdeacon ' s syndicate . Voisin attempted flights in both aircraft on 18 July 1905 . Although the weather was unsuitable , with a strong crosswind , Voisin decided to attempt to fly the aircraft since it was difficult to obtain the necessary permission to use the river . He made a short flight in his own glider and then attempted a flight in Bleriot ' s . This took off quickly , but Voisin could not control it and it crashed into the river . Voisin was trapped inside and was lucky to escape drowning . Louis Bleriot ' s cine footage of this experiment survives in the Smithsonian ' s National Air and Space Museum . The next aircraft built by Voisin for Bleriot during 1906 , the Bleriot III , was a tandem biplane powered by an Antoinette engine driving two tractor propellers with the wings formed into a closed ellipse as seen from the front : according to Voisin ' s account , Bleriot had originally wanted the lifting surfaces to be circular in front elevation , having experimented with models of this form , and the adoption of their eventual form was the result of a compromise between the two men . This aircraft was unsuccessful , as was its subsequent modification ( the Blériot IV ) in which the forward wing was replaced by a conventional biplane arrangement and a second engine added . Experiments were made first with floats and then with a wheeled undercarriage , and the aircraft was wrecked in a taxying accident at Bagatelle on the morning of 12 November 1906 . Later that day , also at Bagatelle , Alberto Santos - Dumont succeeded in flying his 14 - bis canard biplane for a distance of over 100 metres . After the failure of this machine Voisin and Blériot dissolved their partnership , and Voisin set up a company with his brother Charles Voisin to design and manufacture aircraft . Commercial airplane production : Voisin Frères . " Appareils d ' Aviation Les Frères Voisin " was the world ' s first commercial airplane factory . At this time aspiring European aviators were in fierce competition to be the first to achieve powered heavier - than - air flights . Until Wilbur Wright ' s demonstrations at Le Mans ( France ) in August 1908 many people did not believe the claims of the Wright brothers to have achieved sustained flights : for instance , that the Wrights ' Flyer III had flown 24 miles ( 38 . 9 km ) in 39 minutes 23 seconds on October 5 , 1905 . Santos - Dumont ' s flights in the 14 - bis , in November 1906 , were Europe ' s first officially observed and verified heavier - than - air powered flights . Despite its fame , all that the 14 - bis could achieve was a short flight on a straight line . It had no potential beyond that and it was quickly abandoned . Two almost identical pusher biplane machines , with Antoinette engines , had been built by the Voisin brothers for two early aviation pioneers : the first for Leon Delagrange in March 1907 , and the second for his friend and rival Henry Farman in October 1907 . The second one became known as the Voisin - Farman I , and was flown by Farman to win Archdeacon ' s " Grand Prix d ' Aviation " for making the first one - kilometre closed - circuit flight on January 13 , 1908 . Both Farman and Delagrange won great fame with these aircraft , leap - frogging each other with aviation records . The Voisins ' machines became widely known as Europe ' s first successful aircraft . Later Farman modified and improved the Voisin pusher biplane considerably . He eventually ended his cooperation with the Voisin brothers , following a disagreement , and shifted to manufacturing his own designs which became very successful . The Voisin brothers continued the expansion of their factory resulting for example in the " Canard Voisin " of 1911 . After the death of brother Charles : Aéroplanes G . Voisin . Gabriel Voisin was greatly affected by the death of his brother Charles in 1912 in an automobile accident near Belleville - sur - Saône , but he continued the expansion of the Boulogne - Billancourt factory , under the changed name " Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G . Voisin " . After 1912 , the factory shifted its manufacturing and sales towards supplying the French military . When World War I broke out in 1914 , Gabriel Voisin immediately volunteered for service with French air corps . The Voisin III , a two - seater pusher biplane with a 120 hp Salmson radial engine , was extensively used for bombing and observation missions during World War I . It had a light steel frame and thus could be stationed outdoors . The Voisin III was built in large numbers ( about 1 , 000 ) between 1914 and 1916 and sold not only to the French air services but also to other allies , including Russia . The Type VIII ( about 1 , 100 built ) and Type X ( about 900 built ) were delivered in 1917 and 1918 . Those last to appear Voisin military aircraft were almost identical in appearance to the Voisin III , although they were heavier and featured twice as powerful Peugeot and Renault engines . They also had a longer range and carried almost twice the bomb load of their predecessor . A complete and original Voisin Type VIII bomber aircraft is preserved in excellent condition at the Smithsonian ' s National Air and Space Museum in Washington , D . C . It is the oldest preserved bomber aircraft in the world . Switch to car production : Avions Voisin . Gabriel Voisin abandoned aviation , citing the trauma of the military use of his more advanced airplanes ( the Voisin III ) during the war in addition to the then embryonic demand for civilian aircraft . From then until 1958 , he concentrated his efforts on making automobiles under the brand of " Avions Voisin " . His early cars were some of the finest luxury vehicles in the world , with unique technical details . Many of them won in competition . However , the luxury car market shrank in the late 1930s because of depressed economic conditions brought on by the invasion of France by Hitler and he closed down his factory . " In 1939 , a certain Hitler unleashed the regrettable chain of events that French people are all too familiar with . " - Gabriel Voisin . After 1945 , he turned his attention to designing a minimalist car for the masses , the " Biscooter " , thousands of which were produced under licence in Spain during the 1950s as the " Biscúter " . Today , his pre - war luxury automobiles have become highly prized by collectors , both in Europe and in the USA . Further biography . In 1909 , Gabriel Voisin was made a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor , and along with Blériot was awarded the Prix Osiris , awarded by the Institut de France . In the same year Voisin married Adrienne - Lola Bernet ; they had one daughter , Janine . In 1960 , he retired in his country house , " La Cadolle " at Le Villars , near Tournus on the banks of the Saône river , where he wrote his memoirs . A few years later , in 1965 , he was made a Commander of the Legion d ' Honneur . He died in 1973 in Ozenay , Saône - et - Loire at the age of 93 and was buried at Le Villars . He was the creator of some of the earliest functional flying machines in the world , and an artist in the field of luxury automobiles . His idiosyncratic style and his obsession with feminine conquests have not diminished the achievements of Gabriel Voisin .