The Farman IV biplane of wood and canvas, had a special destiny in Hong Kong, a city where he spent the first two. Is on board that was made in 1911 the first airplane flight over the territory and, in 1997, the Farman biplane IV was the first aircraft to use the brand new airport at Chek Lap Kok!
Originally from England, Henry Farman (1874-1958) was born in Paris. He opts for French nationality in 1937 and made his name franciser, to become since in aviation literature, Henri Farman, French aviation pioneer. Indeed, besides cycling and car, Henri Farman also has a passion for aviation emerging. Holder of pilot certificate No. 5 of the Aero Club of France, he succeeded 13 January 1908 the first kilometer closed circuit in Issy-les-Moulineaux. It then performs March 28 the first flight with passenger biplane, October 30, provides the first flight from city to city for a journey of 27 km. His experience and his pioneering role as the lead in building, using his brother Maurice, his own airplanes. The Farman I is an adaptation of an aircraft purchased in 1907 with another French aviation pioneer, Gabriel Voisin. The Farman It is also built from a model neighbor, but his poor performance quickly lead to the abandonment of the project. Quite different is the fate of the Farman III, built in 1909 and marking a milestone in the history of aviation. This is indeed the first plane with ailerons, an innovation that gives the device an excellent stability. In August 1909, Henri Farman wins the controls of the Farman III Grand Prix de Reims Aviation, beating the world record distance of 180 km in 3 hours and 5 minutes. The company sells a Farman III Farman thirty different French buyers (including the military) and foreign. Then, on the basis of technical and commercial success, and Henry Maurice Farman develop the Farman IV.
The new airplane company Farman, incorporates improvements to the Farman III, whose wings and wheels to improve movement on the ground. The scope is extended by one meter. The device displays and a length of 11.67 m, a wingspan of 16.50 m, a bearing surface of 51.5 m2 and a weight of 290 kg empty and 480 kg when fully loaded, allowing it to carry a passenger . The aircraft is powered by a 50hp Gnome engine which allows a speed of 70km / h. The device, like its predecessor, also found a hit with lovers of aviation and armies, which are beginning to see the interest of aviation. Among the purchasers of Farman IV is a pilot who already owns a Farman III, sees the potential of the new machine.
This driver, Charles Van den Born (1873-1958), has many similarities with Henri Farman. Like him, he is of foreign origin, but opts for French nationality in 1936. Born in Liège in 1873 of a French mother and Belgian father, Charles Van den Born is also, as drawn by Henri Farman speed sports and cycling. It is also, from 1895 to 1909 a cycling champion recognized and awarded several times the speed of the Belgian championship. Van den Born Henri Farman also shares the same passion for aviation. He learned to fly at the school Farman Châlons military camp and received 8 March 1910 the pilot certificate No. 37 of the Aero Club of France, then, on March 31, one of the Aero Club of Belgium (No. 6).
Charles Van den Born decided to go to Asia to perform aerial demonstrations. It keeps this project on Farman IV, proven device that has excellent qualities. But Charles Van den Born adds changes to disassembly and reassembly. Farman IV can be disassembled into seven parts, portable crates by ship or train. Charles Van den Born leaves Marseille October 22, 1910, accompanied by a mechanic. He carried with him a lot of spares including a spare engine, three propellers and wheels extra. The pilot made the first flights to Saigon, 10 December 1910, then in Bangkok January 31, 1911, in the presence of the King of Siam. The next step is Hong Kong, where Charles Van den Bron arrives February 27, 1911. Despite several representations to the Governor Frederick Lugard, relayed by those merchants UK Local Charles Van den Born fails to obtain permission to use the racetrack in Happy Valley on Hong Kong Island. Its choice was then on a site near a beach in Shatin, New Territories and the necessary permission to first flight it is finally granted. The news was widely circulated in newspapers in the colony, and March 18, 1911, a special train on the new Kowloon-Canton leads the audience on the site. But a late arrival of the train, bound to a delay in shipment of the Governor, combined with unfavorable weather conditions, with strong winds make it impossible for the air show at the time originally scheduled. The Governor and leave most viewers Shatin when the wind begins to weaken. Charles Van den Born can then take off and that first historic flight to Hong Kong was to witness that some patients and enthusiastic spectators who remained on the spot! Charles Van den Born one month remaining in Hong Kong and perform other air shows in the New Territories but also on the island of Hong Kong, having finally been given permission. Charles Van den Born has paved the way for adventure aviation in Hong Kong.
86 years later, in 1997, when the handover of Hong Kong to China and the recent work preparing for the opening of new Hong Kong airport, Chek Lap Kok to replace that of Kai Tak, the enthusiasts Aviation decided to commemorate this historic first flight to Hong Kong. These enthusiasts Hong Kong Historical Aircraft Association (HKHAA) entrust to a specialized company in Texas, Vintage Aviation Services, the task of building a replica of the Farman IV. The research of the original plans of the aircraft take several months and are led to major museums, including the Royal Museum Army and History of Belgium, the Air Museum at Le Bourget, the Air and Space Museum in Washington and the Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton. The aircraft was completed in September 1997 and, like his illustrious ancestor original, it is shipped to Hong Kong banks, but this time, the journey involves Cargo Boeing 747 and not by boat. As in 1911 also, the arrival of Farman IV at the airport from Kai Tak, winding its premises located at Chek Lap Kok and the preparations for this "second first flight" are the subject of extensive media coverage in the Hong Kong press. The flight can be conducted in Shatin for the field where the first flight takes place in Hong Kong is now surrounded by tall buildings. On November 15, 1997, the pilot of the plane, Roger Freeman, dressed in pilot early twentieth century, so off the runway at Chek Lap Kok for a 20-minute flight and landing there. The event is followed by a large crowd, including officials of the new government of Hong Kong. Farman IV becomes the first aircraft in history to use the runway of the new airport of Hong Kong, several months before its opening to traffic.
The airport authorities and enthusiasts decide HKHAA keep the replica of the Farman IV and the offer to the admiration of air travelers the twenty-first century. Farman IV is so, since April 22, 1998, suspended from the ceiling of the airport terminal I of Hong Kong, frail "chicken coop" of wood and canvas that recalls the journey to Hong Kong's adventure aviation.
The new airplane company Farman, incorporates improvements to the Farman III, whose wings and wheels to improve movement on the ground. The scope is extended by one meter. The device displays and a length of 11.67 m, a wingspan of 16.50 m, a bearing surface of 51.5 m2 and a weight of 290 kg empty and 480 kg when fully loaded, allowing it to carry a passenger . The aircraft is powered by a 50hp Gnome engine which allows a speed of 70km / h. The device, like its predecessor, also found a hit with lovers of aviation and armies, which are beginning to see the interest of aviation. Among the purchasers of Farman IV is a pilot who already owns a Farman III, sees the potential of the new machine.
This driver, Charles Van den Born (1873-1958), has many similarities with Henri Farman. Like him, he is of foreign origin, but opts for French nationality in 1936. Born in Liège in 1873 of a French mother and Belgian father, Charles Van den Born is also, as drawn by Henri Farman speed sports and cycling. It is also, from 1895 to 1909 a cycling champion recognized and awarded several times the speed of the Belgian championship. Van den Born Henri Farman also shares the same passion for aviation. He learned to fly at the school Farman Châlons military camp and received 8 March 1910 the pilot certificate No. 37 of the Aero Club of France, then, on March 31, one of the Aero Club of Belgium (No. 6).
Charles Van den Born decided to go to Asia to perform aerial demonstrations. It keeps this project on Farman IV, proven device that has excellent qualities. But Charles Van den Born adds changes to disassembly and reassembly. Farman IV can be disassembled into seven parts, portable crates by ship or train. Charles Van den Born leaves Marseille October 22, 1910, accompanied by a mechanic. He carried with him a lot of spares including a spare engine, three propellers and wheels extra. The pilot made the first flights to Saigon, 10 December 1910, then in Bangkok January 31, 1911, in the presence of the King of Siam. The next step is Hong Kong, where Charles Van den Bron arrives February 27, 1911. Despite several representations to the Governor Frederick Lugard, relayed by those merchants UK Local Charles Van den Born fails to obtain permission to use the racetrack in Happy Valley on Hong Kong Island. Its choice was then on a site near a beach in Shatin, New Territories and the necessary permission to first flight it is finally granted. The news was widely circulated in newspapers in the colony, and March 18, 1911, a special train on the new Kowloon-Canton leads the audience on the site. But a late arrival of the train, bound to a delay in shipment of the Governor, combined with unfavorable weather conditions, with strong winds make it impossible for the air show at the time originally scheduled. The Governor and leave most viewers Shatin when the wind begins to weaken. Charles Van den Born can then take off and that first historic flight to Hong Kong was to witness that some patients and enthusiastic spectators who remained on the spot! Charles Van den Born one month remaining in Hong Kong and perform other air shows in the New Territories but also on the island of Hong Kong, having finally been given permission. Charles Van den Born has paved the way for adventure aviation in Hong Kong. 
86 years later, in 1997, when the handover of Hong Kong to China and the recent work preparing for the opening of new Hong Kong airport, Chek Lap Kok to replace that of Kai Tak, the enthusiasts Aviation decided to commemorate this historic first flight to Hong Kong. These enthusiasts Hong Kong Historical Aircraft Association (HKHAA) entrust to a specialized company in Texas, Vintage Aviation Services, the task of building a replica of the Farman IV. The research of the original plans of the aircraft take several months and are led to major museums, including the Royal Museum Army and History of Belgium, the Air Museum at Le Bourget, the Air and Space Museum in Washington and the Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton. The aircraft was completed in September 1997 and, like his illustrious ancestor original, it is shipped to Hong Kong banks, but this time, the journey involves Cargo Boeing 747 and not by boat. As in 1911 also, the arrival of Farman IV at the airport from Kai Tak, winding its premises located at Chek Lap Kok and the preparations for this "second first flight" are the subject of extensive media coverage in the Hong Kong press. The flight can be conducted in Shatin for the field where the first flight takes place in Hong Kong is now surrounded by tall buildings. On November 15, 1997, the pilot of the plane, Roger Freeman, dressed in pilot early twentieth century, so off the runway at Chek Lap Kok for a 20-minute flight and landing there. The event is followed by a large crowd, including officials of the new government of Hong Kong. Farman IV becomes the first aircraft in history to use the runway of the new airport of Hong Kong, several months before its opening to traffic. 
The airport authorities and enthusiasts decide HKHAA keep the replica of the Farman IV and the offer to the admiration of air travelers the twenty-first century. Farman IV is so, since April 22, 1998, suspended from the ceiling of the airport terminal I of Hong Kong, frail "chicken coop" of wood and canvas that recalls the journey to Hong Kong's adventure aviation. CR.
Source: magazine "Pegasus", July 1999; www.hydroretro.net; archives of the South China Morning Post. Photo credits: Jean Devaux, CR. http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Cockpit/9695/HongKongfirstflight.htm
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