Un gamin dans le Ciel
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Cover image – self published by author, Pierre Thiffault.
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A Brief Review
by Laurence Jerome Lesh III, MSgt, USAF, Retired Journey back to the early days of aviation at the start of the 20th Century while Pierre brings to life the people, events, inventions and ideas which founded and shaped modern aviation. Using narration in French and English along with photos, sketches, drawings, and personal letters this book presents the story of Laurence Jerome Lesh and the people who helped shape his pioneering career. |
Back Cover image hover over and select to see a larger version.
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A Brief Overview
by the author
by the author
This is the story of the first known aviator in Canada... a boy of only 14 years of age. In the summer of 1907, Laurence J. Lesh (1892-1965) performed in Montreal a series of soaring flights in self-made fragile gliders towed... by a galloping horse ! The lad also set a world record by staying aloft for 24 minutes over the St. Lawrence River, towed for ten kilometres by a motor boat.
These were the first soaring flights worthy of the name in Canada, more than eighteen months before any airplane (firstly the "Silver Dart") would fly in the country.
That same summer of 1907, Lesh tested in flight a device today known as aileron. This took place eight months before the maiden flight of the "White Wing" by the AEA (generally credited for the introduction of ailerons in North America). The summer concluded with over fifty flights performed in Montreal.
Born in Iowa, Lesh had just moved to Montreal with his family. Previously a resident of Chicago, Lesh was in fact a protégé of Octave Chanute, the famous eminence grise of early aviation. Chanute had mentored the Wright brothers just a few years earlier. Chanute even tried to have Lesh accompany the Wrights as helper on their famous breakthrough European tour of 1908.
In 1908, the young Montrealer was the guest star of the first Morris Park Air Meet in New York City. Introduced as the “Champion glider of the world” by the press, Lesh performed a series of flights with a new and untested glider towed by a car. On the third flight, in front of a crowd exceeding 20 000 people, his glider violently crashed. The boy was rushed to the hospital, spending a year in rehab.
Lesh nevertheless maintained his interest in aviation, designing airplanes in 1910 for the University of Pennsylvania Aero Club and other organizations. He then moved on to become a radio engineer, designing radio sets and wind-driven generators for the Navy during WWI.
In his adult years, Lesh operated AM radio stations, worked in the telephony industry, designed air navigation devices and other inventions, wrote articles for aviation magazines, acted as independant counsulting engineer...
Pierre Thiffault worked 31 years in the Air Traffic Services for Nav Canada, mainly as Flight Planning Specialist and Simulation Specialist. In 2001, he co-founded the Quebec Air and Space Hall of Fame and for 10 years chaired the Selection Committee. He is the author of several books and articles on the history of aeronautics, holding for twelve years a regular column in Plein Vol Magazine. He also wrote six articles for the CAHS Journal.
These were the first soaring flights worthy of the name in Canada, more than eighteen months before any airplane (firstly the "Silver Dart") would fly in the country.
That same summer of 1907, Lesh tested in flight a device today known as aileron. This took place eight months before the maiden flight of the "White Wing" by the AEA (generally credited for the introduction of ailerons in North America). The summer concluded with over fifty flights performed in Montreal.
Born in Iowa, Lesh had just moved to Montreal with his family. Previously a resident of Chicago, Lesh was in fact a protégé of Octave Chanute, the famous eminence grise of early aviation. Chanute had mentored the Wright brothers just a few years earlier. Chanute even tried to have Lesh accompany the Wrights as helper on their famous breakthrough European tour of 1908.
In 1908, the young Montrealer was the guest star of the first Morris Park Air Meet in New York City. Introduced as the “Champion glider of the world” by the press, Lesh performed a series of flights with a new and untested glider towed by a car. On the third flight, in front of a crowd exceeding 20 000 people, his glider violently crashed. The boy was rushed to the hospital, spending a year in rehab.
Lesh nevertheless maintained his interest in aviation, designing airplanes in 1910 for the University of Pennsylvania Aero Club and other organizations. He then moved on to become a radio engineer, designing radio sets and wind-driven generators for the Navy during WWI.
In his adult years, Lesh operated AM radio stations, worked in the telephony industry, designed air navigation devices and other inventions, wrote articles for aviation magazines, acted as independant counsulting engineer...
Pierre Thiffault worked 31 years in the Air Traffic Services for Nav Canada, mainly as Flight Planning Specialist and Simulation Specialist. In 2001, he co-founded the Quebec Air and Space Hall of Fame and for 10 years chaired the Selection Committee. He is the author of several books and articles on the history of aeronautics, holding for twelve years a regular column in Plein Vol Magazine. He also wrote six articles for the CAHS Journal.