jan 1, 1874 - Felix Du Temple

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In 1857–1858 the French naval officer and engineer Felix Du Temple flew the first successful powered model airplane in history; it was a monoplane with swept-forward wings and was powered by clockwork! Then, in 1874, Du Temple achieved the world’s first powered takeoff by a piloted, full-size airplane. Again the airplane had swept-forward wings, but this time it was powered by some type of hot-air engine (the precise type is unknown).

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