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1900 to 1914: The age of pioneers:
-1901: Captain FERBER's first
trial flights
-1910: The air show
Man has always wanted to fly like a bird, to travel further than
the eye can see, to thrill to a unique feeling of freedom.
 Like Icarus,
some took to the skies:
-passionate, oblivious, some would even say
mad, they sacrificed their lives to further the history of aviation.
A history marked by a series of achievements:
-that of making an aircraft take off, of
keeping it airborne, filling it with passengers, taking it though
the sound barrier…
The history of Nice Côte d'Azur Airport begins with one such
pioneer, Captain FERBER.
A military man, aged 39 at the time, he dreamt of taking to the
airs and the wide open spaces to escape from the greyness of his
barracks.
He invented
his fist glider as early as 1901. With his second one he made a
leap of 50 metres in Beuil. But his glider was not doted with an
engine until 1903. For his first test flight, he hooked his flying
machine to a type of crane that was spun like a merry-go-round.
FERBER died 6 years later in a crash in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
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Captain FERBER and
his aeronautical merry-go-round. |
Back in those days, the lands bordering the sea were reserved for
the military. Further along the banks stood Nice hippodrome. Nice
made the decision to participate in those early developments in
aviation by organising an air show in April 1910.
The show was a resounding success:
- During its two week run, 100,000 spectators
from all around came to the "Californie" airfield
to celebrate aviation. Although aviation was still in its very
earliest stages, spirits were ablaze with crystal clear memories
of Louis BLERIOT's Channel-crossing
of the previous year.
Public leaders and local firms wanted to seize this opportunity
of branding Nice with the flames of its aeronautical passion. They
had no qualms about investing huge amounts of money... and the natural
charms of the Riviera did the rest.
The starting signal for the creation of the airport had been given.
At the time, it was just a big field with a couple of hangars in
it, but one month before the air show the hangers unfortunately
collapsed. The fragility of the land was given as the cause.
Aeronautical euphoria faded at the beginning of the First World
War.
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