It was from the mid-20th century, at a time when aviation was booming, that Reims Aviation gave the people of Champagne a new reason to look up at the sky. From a small artisanal workshop to a modern assembly line, the region was no longer just a place to admire airplanes… they were being built there as well.
An athlete turned aviator
Born in Paris in 1874 into a Franco-British family, nothing destined Henri Farman to become an aviator. He drew, painted, and then developed a passion for sports. Cycling, automobiles, motorcycling: he won races and pushed the limits. This thirst for speed naturally led him to a new playground: aviation.
In 1907, he bought a Voisin biplane and began testing it. At the time, flying more than a few hundred meters was already an achievement. Yet in January 1908, Farman completed the first kilometer in a closed circuit. The press went wild: a Frenchman had just shown that an airplane could fly… and return.
The first city-to-city flight
On October 30, 1908, Farman took off from Bouy, near Mourmelon. His goal: to reach Reims, over 25 kilometers away. No pilot had yet officially completed a flight from one city to another. His Voisin biplane cut through the cold morning air. Twenty minutes later, he landed near Reims, greeted by curious onlookers, journalists, and local officials.
This Bouy–Reims flight made history: the airplane was no longer just a mechanical toy, but a means of transportation. In a single day, Reims became a symbol of modernity and boldness.
The Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne
In 1909, Reims hosted the Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne, the first major international airshow. It brought together dozens of pilots and thousands of spectators from around the world… including Henri Farman. With his Farman III, he won the prize for the longest flight: 180 kilometers in three hours.
Spectators witnessed something unprecedented: planes turning, returning, and taking off again. For a few days, Reims became the world capital of aviation.
Farman the manufacturer: the birth of an industry
Henri Farman was not just a pilot. With his brothers Maurice and Dick, he founded Avions Farman. In their factories near Paris, they designed robust, easy-to-fly aircraft. During World War I, their “Farman” planes were used by the French army.
After the war, they launched one of the first European airliners, the Farman Goliath. Aviation had become an industry, and Henri Farman was one of its key pioneers.
A living legacy in Reims
Farman’s impact is still visible in the Reims region: an avenue and a high school bear his name; in Bouy, a commemorative stele marks his historic flight; the former Bétheny airfield, later a military base and now an urban space, remains a place of memory.
His name evokes boldness, innovation, and a time when every flight was a bet on the future. Henri Farman was not an inventor isolated in a workshop. He was an athlete, an entrepreneur, and a passionate pioneer. He transformed aviation from a dream into reality and gave Reims a unique chapter in its history: the moment when the sky first opened.