11th of April 1908

Three in a row, after a turboprop speed record, a biplane speed record today another speed record.

This time the scene is set in France, Paris to be exact. The record-breaking machine, a Voisin-Delagrange Nº 2 powered by an Antoinette 8 liter V8, water-cooled engine, providing 37 kW (50 hp) at 14oo rpm.

The Voisin-Delangrange Nº 2 The Antoinette V8 engine

The flight distance, a staggering 12.878 ft, flight time: 6 minutes 30 seconds.

That means an average speed of 19.6 knots! The pilot of this flight was Léon Delagrange (1872-1910),

A few other interesting facts about this French pilot:

- When French authorities started issuing pilots licenses, Delangrange received his license with license number 3

- On the 8th of July of 1908, he became the first pilot to take a lady passenger into the sky, his partner Thérèse Peltier. The flight covered a distance of 200 feet!

- He died in Bordeaux on the 4th of January 1910 when during a demonstration flight in 20 miles an hour winds the wings of his aircraft failed catastrophically, causing him to crash from an altitude of 65 feet.