1907, the helicopter’s birthday? But then what about Leonardo da Vinci and his celebrated sketch? What about Lomonosov, who demonstrated the hover in 1754? Or Launoy and Bienvenue’s scale model which flew in 1784? Or Ponton d’Amécourt, or Forlanini whose machine flew twenty-odd metres in 1877, and so many others?

At the dawn of the twentieth century the concept of the lifting propeller had already come a long way, but the internal combustion engine brought with it a new dimension in the approach to flight. And so it was the year 1907, with the trials in France of three helicopters designed to carry their pilots, which marked the start of a vital phase: that of the manned helicopter.

At the Château de Marchais on 13 June one of Maurice Léger’s assistants boarded his enormous machine powered by two coaxial motors. This powerful aircraft achieved lift-off but then overturned, resulting in major damage.