Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Charles Renard
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Quizzes
NASA's Reduced Gravity Program provides the unique weightless or zero-G environment of space flight for testing and training of human and hardware reactions. NASA used the turbojet KC-135A to run these parabolic flights from 1963 to 2004.
History of Flight Quiz
Quick Facts
Born:
1847, France
Died:
1905, France (aged 58)
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Charles Renard

French military engineer
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Charles Renard (born 1847, France—died 1905, France) was a French military engineer, chief builder of the first true dirigible; i.e., an airship that could be steered in any direction irrespective of wind and could return under its own power to its point of departure. In 1884 Renard and Arthur Krebs, French Army captains at the Aérostation Militaire, Chalais-Meudon, completed the dirigible “La France,” which on August 9 of that year made its first flight, a circular journey of 7 or 8 kilometres (about 4 to 5 miles). Earlier (1871) Renard had flown a pilotless heavier-than-air craft, a 10-winged model glider.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.