FELIX CAMERMAN 1884-1963 AKA Felix Cammerman

Le Lieutenant Camerman sur Biplan Farman Collection of Dave Lam, 10-10-05

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Dave Lam, 10-12-05      Cammerman, (alternative spelling). First name Felix, French Army Lieutenant of Engineers. Obtained French pilot's license # 33, on 17 March 1910 in an H. Farman. Dave More on Camerman:      He was born 2 Oct 1884, died 29 Dec 1963, both in Paris. He was an engineer officer, and was the first officer granted a pilots license from the Aero Club of France (March 1910). First officer to fly on a military airplane in France.      He took part in the Circuit of the East (Circuit de l'Est in 1910, and many other competitions. He commanded the military aviation school in Chalons, France in 1910. Later, served as inspector general of manufacture at the Aeronautic Ministry (1916), Director of French Civil Aviation (1925), then began work in industry. Later, he became the Secretary General of the International Federation of Aviation. Dave

The Daily Journal and Tribune, Knoxville, Tennessee: September 29, 1912, Transcribed by Bob Davis - 6-11-04      From time to time enthusiastic contemporaries take occasion gently to chide Wilbur Wright for his views as to the future of aviation, particularly with regard to his pessimism on the question of transportation by aeroplane. Mr. Wright's statement that many years must elapse before aerial passenger traffic is firmly established is considered altogether too conservative, and Mr. Wright is even charged with holding a narrow and petulant views about the activities of airmen. We have gone ahead so fast in aviation that we sometimes forget the place which the two brothers have had in the development of the art., we forget that it was the wing warping principle which the Wrights discovered that has made flying possible, and that no aeroplane, of any type, which has not adopted this has been successful. And not only that, but the Wright brothers are going ahead. Their latest machine shows more progress than any other make, native or foreign. All this goes to show that the Wright brothers opinions are still entitled to careful consideration.      To return to the subject of aerial traffic, we hear that, "holding an opinion adverse to the use of these machines for transportation, Mr. Wright maintains, nevertheless, that flying through the air is still no more dangerous than automobile racing was in the early stages, or some other popular sports. If flying is not very dangerous, and is reasonably safe, and two men in an aeroplane have traveled 110 miles and for almost three hours without stopping, there must be a fair prospect that this airship, assuming it to be capable of improvement, may be used for transportation.      The case might have been made even stronger. The flight to which reference is made, we assume, is that of Lieut. Camerman, of the French army, who on December 23rd, with a passenger, flew straight across the country for 147 miles, remaining in the air for four hours and three minutes, and winning the Lexare-Weller prize for 1910. Even more significant was the flight last week of Henry Weyman, with three passengers, of approximately fifty miles from Mourmelon to Rheims and return.      But even admitting all this, it does follow that aerial transportation can be immediately realized. Take the case of the automobile today. Speaking of passenger transportation as a commercial proposition - and this is undoubtedly what Mr. Wright means - we should hardly say that motor cars were used for this purpose. Even though the travel by this means is frequently more pleasant, and sometimes quicker, the railroads are not complaining of a loss of business from this cause. The case of the flying machine appears similar. It is likely to be many years before the aeroplane is developed to such an extent as to be independent of wind and weather conditions or until it can carry passengers in comfort at all times. Until we reach this stage, transportation by railway is not likely to be seriously threatened with aerial competition.      Undoubtedly the aeroplane in the case of difficult or inaccessible places will be useful, as Mr. Wright himself says, for carrying one or more persons, or for transporting light freight, such as mails, etc. In fact, the Wright machine itself has carried light freight, consisting of bales of silk, under the guidance of Aviator Philip O. Parmalee, from Dayton to Columbus. These, however, are special cases and affect the case of transportation in general, not at all.      Beyond question the day of flying as a popular pastime is coming soon, but flying as a means of everyday transportation is not yet in sight - Boston Transcript

 

Le Lieutenant Camerman Collection of Dave Lam, 10-10-05

 

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Felix Camerman", using the Google search engine, (3-11-06), you will find about 12 links.

 

Félix CAMERMAN      I was alerted to this website by Marie-Christine Regnier and it proves to be a very valuable source of information about his life and career. Unfortunately for me, It is written in French, but an acceptable machine-translation into English is available. You can access the article in French by clicking on the title above.      If you need the translated version, you can click on: English Version

 

La Ligne est ouverte      On this page of the "Latecoere to the Aeropostale" website ,you will find several brief mentions of Cammerman in connection with the development of an airline from Tolouse to Santiago, Chile. This extensive website is written entirely in French, although portions of it are available in English. The references to Cammerman are in French and though a machine translation can be made, the results are so confusing that it is very difficult to follow the story. As an example, here is one paragraph which I translated using the BabelFish program.        "Pierre Latécoère was interested and it would have favorably considered the participation of the Commander Cammerman in the mission if this voyage could be delayed 3 months, because Cammerman was to take part in Rome with multiple conferences which were, at that time, l'ordinaire occupations of the various European air transports. No other n'ayant name of qualified personality be, advanced, Latécoère was, after this lunch, much more embarrassed in its choice. Each possibility considered s'avérait not easily realizable, so that it was still with one of my proposals that Latécoère s'arrêta."        I suspect that anyone who can read the entire article in French will be well rewarded for the time spent. It appears to be a fascinating story of an important early development of air transportation. You can access the page by clicking on the title above.

 

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