The Air and Space museum in Le Bourget near Paris

The Air and Space Museum has 175 historic planes paying tribute to the early 20th century air pioneers. It features among others:

• the Massia-Biot glider, a 1879 bird looking flying machine, the oldest in the world.
• the bat looking 1897 Avion n°3 from Ader, the designer of Eole. Eole 50 meters take-off in 1890 was the first aiplane take-off in history.
• the 1907 Voisin-Farman airplane from the Paris Voisin airplane factory, the first ever in the world. The Voisin-Farman airplane accomplished the first one kilometer flight in 1908.

The Blériot 11-2

Morane Saulnier

• a 1908 Wright airplane. The Wright brothers came from Dayton, Ohio. They settled in Le Mans in France in 1908. There, they produced many record breaking airplanes.
• the 1909 Blériot XI airplane. Louis Blériot designed his own airplanes. He was the first ever to cross the channel between France and England. Roland Garros, another French air pioneer,  flew a Blériot plane at 4 960 meters altitude in 1912, therefore breaking a world record.
• and from the present time Ariane III and V rockets and  the supersonic Concorde airplane first prototype.

We strongly recommend the Air and Space museum, a must for aeronautics fans and children alike. The Space and Air Museum is located at Le Bourget airport, a few kilometers north of the Stade de France on the A1 freeway in the direction of Charles de Gaulle airport.

 The Museum is open all days except Mondays from 9am to 5pm (6pm from May 1st to October 31st). Telephone 33 (0)1 49 92 71 99. Web site (in French).

Other great Paris museums

Morane Saulnier