1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: show that takes you on a trip through history every 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: day of the week. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: looking at the first time in aviation history that a 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: plane took off from and landed on not the ground 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: but the water. After the day was March twenty eighth, 8 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, French amateur pilot on Ree Fabre made the 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,599 Speaker 1: first successful seaplane flight. He took off from a lagoon 10 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 1: on the Mediterranean coast of France and reached an altitude 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: of six and a half feet above the water. Piloting 12 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: a plane of his own design, he traveled a distance 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: of a few hundred meters over the water and then 14 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: landed safely back in the lagoon. Then, having already made history, 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: Fabre flew three more times that day, with his longest 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,399 Speaker 1: flight reaching a distance of about six hundred meters or 17 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: just under two thousand feet. That may not sound like much, 18 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: but it was pretty impressive for a test flight. For example, 19 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: when the Wright Brothers first tested their airplane seven years earlier, 20 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: the farthest they managed to fly was eight hundred and 21 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: fifty two feet, less than half the distance of the seaplane. 22 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: Before Fabre, there had been several attempts to build a 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: plane that could take off from and land on the water, 24 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: but none of them quite hit the mark. In eighteen 25 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: seventy six, French engineer Alphonse Pino designed a flying machine 26 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: with a boat hull and a retractable landing gear, but 27 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: he never got around actually building it. Then, at the 28 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century, Austrian inventor Wilhelm Us built 29 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: what many considered to be the world's first seaplane, the 30 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: Drakenfleeger or Dragonflyer. Unfortunately, the engines of Cress's aircraft weren't 31 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: strong enough to lift it out of the water, and 32 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: eventually the whole thing just sank. Finally, in nineteen oh five, 33 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: Gabriel Voissan and Ernest Archdeacon built a glider that did 34 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: take off from the River sen just not on its 35 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: own power. It had to be towed up to speed 36 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: by a steamboat. In the end, it was Enri Fabre 37 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: who claimed the honor of being the first person to 38 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: successfully pilot a seaplane. Born in eighteen eighty two in Marseille, France, 39 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: Fabre later became an engineer and began working on plans 40 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: for a seaplane as early as nineteen oh six. At 41 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: the time, his main interest was the challenge of building it, 42 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: but it's not hard to imagine the utility of a 43 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: plane that could land on or take off from bodies 44 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: of water. A vehicle like that could provide greater access 45 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: to isolated or underdeveloped areas, and it could vastly improve 46 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: the outcomes of search and rescue missions. With all those 47 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: possibilities on the line, Fabre worked with two mechanics and 48 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: a naval architect to perfect the design of his seafaring airplane. 49 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: It took them four years to plan, build and test 50 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: a working prototype, but all their hard work eventually paid off. 51 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: Fabre's Hydravian or seaplane was made from lightweight materials, ash 52 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: wood for the frame, plywood for the three floats, and 53 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: cotton coverings for the wings. It had a forty five 54 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: foot wingspan, measured twenty seven feet in length, and weighed 55 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: barely over eight hundred pounds. Fabre named the plane Le 56 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: Canard or the Duck, because of its ability to both 57 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: float and fly. He also thought that the plane's wings 58 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: resembled those of a duck in flight, and looking at 59 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: the photos of the plane, he was right. The Canard's 60 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: propeller was mounted at the back of the plane and 61 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: was turned by a fifty horsepower engine. The three hollow 62 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: plywood floats mounted beneath the plane also provided additional lift 63 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: once it was airborne. Fabre's inaugural flight was scheduled for 64 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: March twenty eighth, nineteen ten, at the Etaue de Beert 65 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: Lagoon in Martigue, France, not far from Marseille. It would 66 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: be his first flight in more ways than one, as 67 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: the aspiring pilot had never flown before the big day, 68 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: not even as a passenger. It was with slight trepidation 69 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: then that he fired up his engine in the Martigue Marina, 70 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: with a crowd of excited spectators looking on from the shore. 71 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: Fabre got the Canard up to speed in the water 72 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: and took to the air, cruising at about fifty five 73 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: miles per hour. He touched down back in the water 74 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: and then completed three more consecutive takeoffs and landings, covering 75 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: a combined distance of about one and a quarter miles. 76 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: The successful test flights drew international attention, and pretty soon 77 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: Fabre was fielding offers from other inventors who wanted to 78 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: use his floats to build their own seaplanes. The following year, 79 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: one such customer, American aviator Glenn Curtis, expanded on Fabre's 80 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: design by building the Curtis Model D, a traditional airplane 81 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,719 Speaker 1: equipped with a central float and sponsons built into the 82 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 1: hull for extra buoyancy. The Model D could take off 83 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: from in land on either the ground or the water, 84 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: making it one of the earliest amphibious aircraft in the world. 85 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: Curtis went on to design several more planes with buoyant hulls, 86 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: a variety of seaplane known as the flowing boat, and 87 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: it later proved invaluable during World War I. By that point, 88 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: Henri Fabre had gotten his own company up and running. 89 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,280 Speaker 1: He supplied his patented floats to several different aircraft manufacturers, 90 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: and also built and sold his own seaplanes for use 91 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: in the war. The seaplane industry grew quickly from there, 92 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: and by the late nineteen thirties it had become one 93 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: of the safest and most dependable means of long distance transportation, 94 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: not only for cargo, but for passengers as well. That's 95 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: because seaplanes were among the largest and fastest aircraft at 96 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: the time, and they were also able to be refueled 97 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: at coastal stations, making transatlantic flights easier and more accessible 98 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 1: than ever. Flying boats and seaplanes proved their usefulness yet 99 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: again in the Pacific theater of World War II. The 100 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: Allies used them to scout enemy battleships, conduct anti submarine patrols, 101 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: and to rescue airmen who'd been shot down. Ironically, the 102 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: same military build up that had made seaplanes of vital 103 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: tool during the war also led to their decline once 104 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: the fighting was over. Allied nations had spent millions of 105 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: dollars on the construction of new runways and longer runways, 106 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: greatly reducing the number of places that could only be 107 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: reached by seaplane. That said, the US Navy continued using 108 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: flying boats well into the jet age, and didn't retire 109 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: its last one until the late nineteen sixties. Large flying 110 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: boats may not see much action these days, but smaller 111 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: modern seaplanes are still put to good use by coastguards 112 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: and other rescue specialists. They are also a popular option 113 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: for sight seeing, providing easy access to remote areas all 114 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: around the world if you can afford it. As for 115 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: the man who made all that possible. Enri Fabre stepped 116 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: away from seaplane manufacturing after the First World War, but 117 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: he continued to work as an engineer in the aviation industry. 118 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: He passed away on June thirtieth, nineteen eighty four, at 119 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: the age of one hundred and one. Talk about a 120 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: long flight. I'm Gabe Bluesiery and hopefully you now know 121 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 122 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: If you'd like to keep up with the show, you 123 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI 124 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 125 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way by writing to 126 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,680 Speaker 1: this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Kasby Bias 127 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 128 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another Day 129 00:08:48,920 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 1: in History Class.