[JoeF]

Circa 1922
Francis Chardon

FROM THE FRENCH GLIDING COMPETITION AT CLERMONT-FERRAND: Chardon, the Swiss representative, starting off by running down the hill.

Empty weight: about 28 lb as referenced in one of the linked pages.

Chardon1922photo2.jpg (44.81 KiB) Viewed 668 times

Chardon1922.jpg (33.33 KiB) Viewed 668 times

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The daredevil postal clerk that won
Francis Chardon began assembling his biplane hang glider on 19 February 1922, which proved to be too heavy and unsuitable for flight. With the help of the instructor, he hastily built a new hang glider in the simplest possible form and began training immediately.

In this plane Chardon completed 51 competition flights and remained aloft for a total of 617.9 seconds: an average of 12.1 seconds per flight. A glance at the photos from back then shows that Chardon must have been a bit of a daredevil but it paid off as he won the competition.

For drawing and another photo and more notes: SeeThisPage
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For an apparent monoplane glider by Chardon, see page HERE
One reference has the monoplane glider at empty weight of about 88 lb.


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