On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of world aviation pioneer Traian Vuia’s historical flight of the “Vuia I” airplane on the field of Montesson (France), Romfilatelia, the company specialized in editing and trading Romanian postage stamps, introduces into the postal network the postage stamp issue The Centenary of Traian Vuia's flight.
Born in 1872, in the township of Surducul Mic (a settlement which bares his name today) of Timis county, Traian Vuia has made his studies at the State High School of Lugoj, where he passed the baccalaureate exam in 1892. Then followed the Law School in Budapest, where he obtained the title of Doctor of Juridical Science. At the same time, he had been attending the evening classes of the Polytechnic College.
In the summer of 1902, he left for Paris. Vuia’s intention was to document on flying machines heavier than air and to build his own airplane once he had returned to his country. But the climate of the local aeronautical environments and the technical possibilities existing in Paris have determined him to pursue implementing the project on French soil. On the 16th of February 1903, he presents to the Academy of Science a memoir on his invention “project of an aeroplane-automobile”, for which, on the 17th of August 1903, he obtains the patent with the number 332.106.
His original concept consisted of joining together, in a coherent unit, two preceding technical achievements: the automobile and the airfoil. Financially supported by his compatriots, he began building the plane, while having to deal with the problem of the engine all by himself. In December 1905, the flying machine “Vuia I” was brought out to the Montesson field for the first experiments. The whole technical composition was proof of the inventiveness of its constructor.
18th of March 1906. Here, on the field near Paris, Vuia met his destiny. The plane wheeled on the ground with the help of its tractor airscrew, took off, flew 12 metres and then, its engine having stopped, landed back on the ground. It was the world’s first flight of an airplane with an autonomous takeoff.
In the summer of 1906, Vuia had confirmed through more experiments that the flight of the 18th of March had not been by chance. He built a second flying machine and continued his public demonstrations. “L’Aerophile” – the newspaper agency for the French Aeroclub, along with other specialized publications, have underlined, at that moment, the importance of Traian Vuia’s technical achievement. Vuia’s model of wheel-based takeoff is caught up by the other constructors, including the Wright brothers.
“In fact, American specialized historiography considers Vuia as the undisputed pioneer of world aviation, and “Vuia I”, his airplane provided with an undercarriage is seen as a “prophetic achievement”.” (“The Wright Brothers – Conquerors of the Sky” Author: Dr. Valeriu Avram).
Aeronautics had stepped into the industrial era. A new revolution in the field of locomotion was about to take place.
In 1918, Vuia became president of the National Committee of the Romanians from Transylvania and Bucovina, a constitution which militated for achieving the challenge of uniting Transylvania and Bucovina with the Kingdom of Romania. In the period following the First World War he was preoccupied by vertical flight, thus building two experimental helicopters. At the same time, he kept patenting several inventions regarding the efficiency of the engines.
During the Second World War he held the position of president of the Romanian National Antifascist Front in France. In 1946, he is elected as an honorary member of the Romanian Academy. He returned to Romania in the year 1950, where, after only a few months, he passed away.
In 1976, the town hall of Montesson set up a plaque on its frontispiece, dedicated to the first flight in the world made by the “Vuia I” plane. On the premises of the hall there is a bust of the Romanian inventor, and in March 2000, another plaque was unveiled, in a town square, which bares the name Traian Vuia.
The issue is completed by a set of 3 maxicards.
