Abbas Ibn Firnas

“ Abbas Ibn Firnas or” Abbas Qasim Ibn Firnas (810 - 887), precursor of the Aeronautical , was a scientific humanitarist, and Chimiste. He was born in a family from origin Berbère whose ancestors probably took part in the conquest of the Spain.

The biographers present it like a Philosophe shining, it thus had to receive a solid formation, which means that it made scientific studies. He in particular studied the Chimie, the Physique and the Astronomie.

Its aptitudes in Poetry and its know-how in Astrologie enabled him to be introduced at the court of Abd Al-Rahman II (822-852) where it will teach poetry there.

But if it continued to attend this court during the reign of the successor Muhammad Ier (852-886), it is for its many inventions, of which some are evoked by the historians. Ibn Firnas designed a clock with water, the Clepsydre called Al-Maqata-Maqata . It was also it first to develop the technique of size of the rock crystal; it designed a sphere armillaire to visualize the movement of the stars and a Planétarium which it built at his place.

In 852, Armen Firman decides to fly while launching out since a tower of Cordoba using an enormous coat to deaden its fall. It will draw some with tiny wounds. It is generally considered that Armen Firman has creates the first Parachute. This jump which Ibn Firnas saw, marked it much.

In 875, at the 70 years age, Ibn Firnas is made make wings out of wooden covered with a silk dress which it had furnished with feathers of raptors. It launches out of a tower overhanging a valley, and, even if the landing is bad (it fractured the two legs), the flight is overall a success: it remained in the airs during ten minutes. It was largely observed by an immense crowd that it had by invited advance. It included/understood its error thereafter: it should have added a tail to its apparatus. He dies twelve years after, in 887. Its robbery attempt by its own means marked the spirits, at its time and even a few centuries later.

In the countries Musulmans it is indicated that the first man to have tried to fly is Ibn Firnas, 1000 years before Clément Ader. The Libyens produced a postage stamp with its effigy, the Iraqi built a statue the representative on the road of the International airport of Baghdad, and they gave the name of Ibn Firnas to another airport to the north of Baghdad.

A crater on the the Moon bears its name.

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