Voisin 1907 biplane

Edmond Poillot flying a Voisin biplane with a dog, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

At the same time, the Voisin brothers and their draughtsman Maurice Colliex[8] were building a similar aircraft, which had been ordered by the sculptor Léon Delagrange. This became known as the Delagrange I,[3] since the Voisin brothers had decided that the aircraft they built would bear the name of their owner prominently placed on the tail surfaces, "Voisin Frères" appearing underneath in much smaller lettering. This was done because Voisin believed that people would be more ready to buy aircraft if the glory of flying them went to them rather than the builder. This practise is a source of confusion to historians and was also to lead to considerable resentment on Gabriel Voisin's part,[9] since the focus of attention was indeed generally on the pilots rather than on those who were responsible for the design and constructionof the aircraft.

Powered by a 50 hp V8 Antoinette engine,[10] it was a pusher configuration two-bay biplane with a wingspan of 10 m (33 ft). A biplane elevator was carried in front of the wings on the end of a short nacelle and a boxkite-like biplane empennage of half the span of the mainplanes with three vertical surfaces each carrying a trailing-edge rudder was carried on booms behind the wings.[11] The undercarriage consisted of a pair of wheels on v-struts under the trailing edge of the wings and small wheels mounted at the ends of the lower tailbooms. There was no provision for direct lateral control.[note 3] Before Wilbur Wright's flying demonstrations in France August 1908 the importance of roll control to make controlled turns was not appreciated by European experimenters, who concentrated on attempting to produce inherently stable and practical [note 4] aircraft.

The first attempt to fly the aircraft was made by Gabriel Voisin on 28 February 1907 at the Polygon de Vincennes, but the lower booms supporting the tail failed when he attempted to lift off.[12] After repairs a second attempt was made on 16 March, but on lifting off the engine torque drove the left-hand wing onto the ground, ending the attempted flight. This problem was overcome by adding 2 kg (4.4 lb) ballast to the right wing. Thus modified, three flights, the best of 60 m (200 ft) were made by Charles Voisin on 30 March.[13] The aircraft was then fitted with floats and a series of unsuccessful trials were made on the Lac d'Enghien, following which the wheels were replaced.[14] Delagrange made two short flights at Issy les Moulineaux on 2 November 1907, but on 6 November another flight ended in a crash in which the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. Delagrange promptly ordered a second aircraft, later called the Delagrange II.[15]

Henry Farman (left) with Gabriel Voisin

A second machine, identical apart from slight changes to the undercarriage, was ordered by Henry Farman in July 1907 and first flew on 30 September 1907.[16] Christenned Henri Farman n°1 (as painted on the vertical tail), this became known as the Voisin-Farman,[3] or, later, the Farman I

On 15 October he succeeded in making a flight of around 285 m (935 ft), which would have been a world record for distance had it been officially observed and measured, and following more flights on 19 and 23 October, including an officially witnessed flight of 185 m (607 ft) which won an award from the Aero Club de France for a flight of over 150 metres,[17] he set a new world record for distance with a flight of 771 m (2,530 ft). This flight won prizes awarded by the AeCF for flights of over 300 and 500 metres and also gained the Archdeacon Cup for the greatest distance flown.[18]

Later that year Farman had made some modifications to the aircraft, replacing the biplane front elevator with a single surface. The tail surfaces had been reduced in span.[19] In the original tail assembly the upper surface was a lifting surface, while the lower was a non-lifting surface intended to act as a stabiliser: in the new arrangement both surfaces contributed lift.[20]
The wings had been re-rigged with dihedral to give spiral stability and allow some roll control [21] despite of ailerons or wing warping lacking features. Following Henri Fabre sound advice, and overcoming Voisin disinterest, Farman had been added a cloth fairing upon the external aft spars of the wings in order to reduce the drag.[22]
Further flights were made in November, in which he made his first turns, and on 13 January 1908 he won the 50,000 francs Deutsch de la Meurthe-Archdeacon Grand Prix de l'Aviation for being the first aviator to complete an officially observed 1 kilometre closed circuit flight, including taking off and landing under the aircraft's own power.

Farman and Archdeacon at Ghent, May 1908

In March 1908 a period of intense competition between Farman and Delagrange began, Delagrange now flying the new Delagrange II incorporating the modifications that had been made to Farman's aircraft, now renamed the Farman Ibis and with a new covering of "Continental" brand rubberised balloon fabric replacing the original varnished silk.[23] On 21 March Farman set a new record with a flight of just over 2 kilometres (1.25  miles). This was bettered by Delagrange, first with a flight of 2.5 km (1.6 mi) on 10 April and the next day with a flight of 3.925 km (2.439 mi). In May both aircraft were fitted with side curtains between the inner set of interplane struts,[23] and on May 30, while giving a series of demonstration flights in Italy, he succeeded in making a flight of 12.750 km (7.922 mi) lasting 15 minutes 25 seconds.[24] This time was bettered by Farman on 6 July, when he made a flight lasting 20 min 20 sec, a new record and winning Farman a 10,000 franc prize for the first officially observed flight lasting more than fifteen minutes. At the end of May Farman had also made the first flights in Europe with a passenger, carrying Ernest Archdeacon for 1,242 metres (4,075 ft) at Ghent.[23]

The distinctive 'side curtains' between the outer two sets of interplane struts that were to become characteristic of subsequent production aircraft were added to both aircraft by the end of September.[25] By 30 October, when Farman made a 27 km (17 mi) flight from Bouy to Reims, the first cross country flight in aviation history, ailerons had been added to his aircraft.[26] Farman's last modification was to fit a third, shorter wing, in which form it became known as the Henry Farman Triplane.