Aviation History – July 9, 1921. No less than 10,000 francs, this is the prize money for the Peugeot Prize which, on Saturday July 9, 1921, was won by Gabriel Poulain, a famous cyclist. A competition that called on the good physical condition of the participants and for good reason, the event being reserved for riders.
In other words, you have to pedal to be able to make these devices fly, which are moved by the sheer force of the competitors’ thighs! And in this game, as a recognized cyclist, Gabriel Poulain made the difference. In 1912, he had already distinguished himself in a similar competition founded by Peugeot, but with less difficulty: thanks to a flight of at least 1 meter at a height of at least 10 centimeters (against 10 meters and 20 centimeters respectively in 1921 ), in two opposite directions, he had pocketed 1,000 francs at the time.
Evolving above the Longchamp racecourse, this time he was the author of a flight of 10.54 meters in one direction and 12.30 meters in the other. On this occasion, he piloted a device with a surface area of 12 square meters and a height of 1.5 meters.
