Maurice Farman

21/3/1877 - 25/2/1964

Record updated 21-Mar-23

Born in Paris to English parents. Maurice Farman was an aircraft designer and manufacturer as well as a distinguished racing driver. In 1901 he won the Grand Prix de Pau, the first race to be called a Grand Prix. .

Maurice Farman
Born in Paris to English parents. Maurice Alain Farman was an aircraft designer and manufacturer and who, along with his brothers Richard and Henri, contributed greatly to early aviation.

He was a champion tandem cyclist with his brother Henri, he also distinguished himself as an automobile racing driver.

Maurice raced Panhard automobiles and won the 1901 Grand Prix de Pau, the first race ever to be called a Grand Prix. In May of 1902 he won the "Circuit du Nord", a race from Paris to Arras and back. He also competed in that year's Paris to Vienna race.

With his brother Henri, Maurice made the first circular flight of more than one kilometre in 1908, completing a 1.6-kilometre (one-mile) flight near Paris.

The following year he built his first airplane. His early craft were modifications of the Voisin biplane. The most successful was the Longhorn, first built in 1912. By the beginning of World War I, it was one of the standard trainers in France and Great Britain. In 1911 Maurice made pioneering experiments in aerial radiotelephony.

The following year the Farman brothers pooled their manufacturing resources, although they still designed their planes individually. Their company prospered during World War I, and in 1917 they introduced the Goliath, the first long-distance passenger plane, which from 1919 made regular flights between Paris and London, greatly stimulating commercial aviation in France and the rest of Europe.

Using the Goliath, they established their own airline, Farman Lines, which was a forerunner of Air France.



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