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Last edited by Bearcat (talk | contribs) 0 seconds ago. (Update) |
Vincent de Groof | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1830 |
| Died | 1874 |
| Citizenship | Belgium |
| Occupation(s) | Aeronaut, painter |
Vincent de Groof (6 April 1830 – 9 July 1874) was a Belgian painter and early pioneering aeronaut. He attempted to create a manned glider during a time where ballooning was the only form of flight available to humans.
Biography
editVincent de Groof is most famous for his bat-like gliding apparatus, with two seven-meter long wings which could be flapped using his arms. His first experiment with this wingsuit was performed in Bruges in 1862, leaping from the roof of a house with some success[1].
On June 29, 1874, he was lifted into the air a short distance using a manned balloon and dropped, initially careening violently but regaining control and landing without serious injury.
On the 9th of July, 1874, he was dropped from another manned balloon at an altitude of 1.5 km, above the Cremorne Gardens in London. During the fall, the apparatus' wings snapped backwards, and he crashed into a road in Chelsea, dying of his injuries in hospital a few days later[2].
He is mentioned in chapter III of Jules Verne's novel Robur the Conqueror[3].
References
edit- ^ Gabriel de La Landelle, Dans les airs, Histoire élémentaire de l'aéronautique, 1884, p. 229
- ^ Abel Hureau de Villeneuve, L'Aéronaute: la plus ancienne publication aéronautique', 1874, p. 241
- ^ Alexandre Tarrieu, Dictionnaire des personnes citées par Jules Verne, vol. 1 : A-E, éditions Paganel, 2019, p. 250