Ader Éole [SEP] manufacturer
Ader Éole
The Ader Éole, also called Avion, was an early steam-powered aircraft developed by Clément Ader in the 1890s and named after the Greco-Roman wind god Aeolus.
Design and development.
Unlike many early flying machines, the Éole did not attempt to fly by flapping its wings, but relied on the lift generated by its wings in forward motion. With wings resembling mechanical copies of bat wings, its steam engine was an unusually light-weight design driving a propeller at the front of the
weight was . On 9 October 1890 Ader attempted to fly the "Éole". Aviation historians give credit to this effort as a powered take-off and uncontrolled flight in ground effect of approximately at a height of approximately . Ader also claimed credit for getting off the ground in the Éole.
Ader began construction of a second aircraft he called the "Avion II", also referred to as the "Zephyr" or "Éole II". Most sources agree that work on this aircraft was never completed, and it