Henri Giffard makes the first powered airship flight from Paris to Trappes

Background. Henri Giffard was a French engineer who invented the steam injector and the powered Giffard dirigible airship in 1852. He had thoroughly worked out the theory of this invention before making any experimental instrument, having explained the idea in 1850. The airship was the world's first passenger-carrying airship, known as a dirigible.

The Machine. The Giffard dirigible was an airship powered with a steam engine and weighing over 180 kilograms. It was practical and steerable, equipped with a 2.2-kilowatt (3 hp) steam engine that drove a propeller. The hydrogen-filled airship was capable of controlled, powered flight, distinguishing it from earlier balloons.

The Flight. On 24 September 1852, Giffard made the first powered and controlled flight, traveling 27 kilometres from Paris to Élancourt. This event established the airship as the first aircraft capable of controlled, powered flight. The flight demonstrated the viability of engine-powered navigation in lighter-than-air craft.