De Groof's fatal flight. 19th-century illustration of the death of Belgian shoemaker Vincent De Groof (1831-1874) on 29 July 1874. His flying machine
De Groof's fatal flight. 19th-century illustration of the death of Belgian shoemaker Vincent De Groof (1831-1874) on 29 July 1874. His flying machine (see V320/0075) was a cross between a glider and a parachute, and was released from the balloon 'Czar' (top left). Too high a descent speed, due to insufficient wing area, caused the wings to crumple upwards. The machine plummeted to the ground, killing De Groof instantly. The balloon pilot, Joseph Simmons, died in a balloon crash in 1888. Artwork from 'Aerostation - Aviation' (1911) by French civil engineer Max de Nansouty (1854-1913), part of the 'Les merveilles de la science' series of 1867-1891 by Louis Figuier.
Size: 3531px × 5001px
Photo credit: © Science Photo Library / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, 1800s, 29, 1874, 19th, adult, aeronaut, aerostation, aircraft, artwork, aviation, balloon, ballooning, balloonist, belgian, black--white, britain, british, broken, caucasian, century, champion, charles, crash, czar, de, death, died, disaster, disintegrating, early, emmanuel, england, english, europe, european, failed, failure, fall, falling, fatal, fatality, figuier, flight, flying, french, groof, historical, history, human, illustration, joe, joseph, july, kingdom, london, louis, male, man, marvels, max, monochrome, nansouty, parachute, parachuting, people, person, pioneer, pioneers, science, simmons, technological, technology, transport, transportation, uk, united, vincent, white
