Date:	Wednesday 6 November 1907
Time:	day
Type:	Voisin Delagrange No.1
Owner/operator:	Ferdinand Leon Delagrange
Registration:	Unregistered
MSN:	N/K
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Issy les Molineaux, Val-de-Marne, near Paris -   France
Phase:	Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.)
Nature:	Test
Departure airport:	Issy les Molineaux, Val-de-Marne, near Paris, France
Destination airport:	Issy les Molineaux, Val-de-Marne, near Paris, France
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Pilot: Leon Delagrange. Up to this day, Delagrange could only perform flights of 50 metres with his Voisin Nº 1. On 6 November 1907 it was reported:

"Yesterday Delagrange was flying at 2-3 metres [altitude] when he tried to turn. He started well on the correct arc, but then the left wing dropped, hit the ground, and broke. The forward elevator broke in two. The frame [‘chassis’] twisted and hit the ground. Delagrange was thrown forward but not hurt; the airplane, however, received mortal wounds. Delagrange said that after his started the turn, he tried to use the rudder in the tail, but the cable broke. He will exchange this airplane for another now being built. He did in fact make a turn, which was previously thought impossible. [Why? Farman had already turned.] Farman flew to Delagrange’s aid from the other end of the field (600-700 metres)".

Delagrange was Voisin Frères's first customer, with the Voisin Delagrange Nº 1 in 1906. First flown in 1907, the aircraft made little progress and was unsatisfactory, until it crashed and was destroyed. A second aircraft, Voisin Delagrange Nº 2 with updated modifications, was capable to win a Distance prize, on 17 March 1908, covering 200 metres. Increasing performance allowed real flight, up to 1908, when he flew a third aircraft, Voisin Delagrange Nº 3.

Delagrange obtained his Pilot License with Nº 3, when was issued by the Aeroclub de France to the first eight pilots of the world, in alphabetical order.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voisin_1907_biplane#Early_flights
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Delagrange
3. "L'Aéroplane Delagrange". L'Aérophile (in French): 64. March 1907.
4. "Nouveaux Essais de l'Aéroplane Delagrange". L'Aérophile (in French): 105. April 1907.
5. Gibbs-Smith, C.H. (1974). The Rebirth of European Aviation. London: HMSO. ISBN 0-11-290180-8.
6. https://earlyaviators.com/edelagra.htm
7. https://aircraftinvestigation.info/airplanes/Voisin_Delagrange_II.html
8. https://earlyfrenchflight.blogspot.com/2017/04/leon-delagrange.html
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voisin_(aircraft)#Early_history
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Delagrange#Early_aviation

Henri Farman (left) and Gabriel Voisin (right) at Issy-les-Moulineaux, Val-de-Marne, near Paris, October 1907.

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
08-Mar-2008 10:06	Bleiente	Added
20-Dec-2024 08:24	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Date, Time, Registration, Cn, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Category, ]