Agen - La Garenne Aerodrome or Aérodrome d'Agen - La Garenne (IATA: AGF, ICAO: LFBA) is an airport located in Le Passage and 3 km southwest of Agen,^[1] both communes of the Lot-et-Garonne département in the Aquitaine région of France.

Airlines and destinations[link]

Traffic and statistics[link]

Traffic by calendar year

	Passengers	Change from previous year	Movements
1998	25 671	0--	--
1999	26 285	02.4%	--
2000	24 277	07.6%	38 163
2001	27 044	011.4%	36 664
2002	33 784	024.9%	36 757
2003	33 434	01.0%	27 918
2004	3 716	088.9%	33 824
2005	15 231	0309.9%	24 287
2006	23 024	051.2%	24 436
2007	7 244	068.5%	30 990
2008	23 461	0223.9%	75 844
2009	28 040	019.5%	30 246
2010	31 324	011.7%	35 186
2011	35 108	012.1%	36 998
Source: Union des aéroports Français[2]

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} LFBA – Agen La Garenne (PDF). AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 28 Jun 2012.
2. ^ "Statistiques annuelles". Union des aéroports Français. http://www.aeroport.fr/les-aeroports-de-l-uaf/stats-agen-la-garenne.php. Retrieved 16 May 2012. 

External links[link]

• Aérodrome d'Agen - La Garenne (Union des Aéroports Français) (French)
• Current weather for LFBA at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for AGF at Aviation Safety Network

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Agen
The Cathedral of Saint-Caprais in Agen
Agen
Administration
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine
Department	Lot-et-Garonne
Arrondissement	Agen
Intercommunality	Agen
Mayor	Jean Dionis du Séjour (NC) (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	37–162 m (121–531 ft) (avg. 48 m or 157 ft)
Land area1	11.49 km2 (4.44 sq mi)
Population2	33,863  (2007)
- Density	2,947 /km2 (7,630 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	47001/ 47000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 44°12′18″N 0°37′16″E / 44.2049°N 0.6212°E / 44.2049; 0.6212

Agen (French pronunciation: [aʒɛ̃]) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne 135 kilometres (84 mi) southeast of Bordeaux. It is the capital of the department.

Economy[link]

The town has a higher level of unemployment than the national average. Major employers include UPSA, the pharmaceutical factory.

Main sights[link]

The old centre of town contains a number of medieval buildings.

The twelfth century Agen Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Caprasius, is one of the few large churches in France with a double nave; the curious and impractical plan may be a regional trait, since one of the others is the Church of the Jacobins in relatively nearby Toulouse.

The Saint Hilaire church, dedicated to the theme of the Holy Trinity which the Saint in question did a lot to defend, is notable for its unusual statues in front of the Church – Moses on the right, and St Peter on the left.

The Fine Arts museum, Musée des Beaux Arts contains artefacts furniture and sculptures from prehistoric times onwards. The art gallery contains several hundred works including several by Goya, and others by Bonnard, Seurat. The collection also contains a large number of works by artists who lived locally. The museum is made up of twenty or so rooms.^[1]

Agen in 1877 by Louis Ducos du Hauron

The Canal des Deux Mers, which joins the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, crosses the river Garonne at Agen via the town's famous canal bridge.

Entertainment[link]

The municipal theatre "Théâtre Ducourneau" presents theatre, and occasionally classical concerts. The smaller "Théâtre du jour" has a resident theatre company presenting a variety of recent or older plays (Shakespeare, Becket, as well as lesser known playwrights).

There are two cinemas, one a commercial multiscreened affair, the other an arts cinema run by a voluntary organization. The latter organizes film festivals every year.

Sport[link]

Rugby is extremely popular in the town, and the local team, SU Agen, is enthusiastically supported. The town also serves as the base for the Team Lot-et-Garonne cycling team.

Press[link]

For many decades Le Petit Bleu has been the daily newspaper, with stories of local or national interest.

Transportation[link]

Gare d'Agen connects Agen with Toulouse and Bordeaux as well as services to Périgueux. It is around an hour from Toulouse, and around an hour from Bordeaux. Fast trains to Paris take four hours and ten minutes. Agen is connected by the A62 motorway to both Toulouse and Bordeaux. The Agen Airport is serviced by Airlinair service to Paris Orly 6 days a week, it is also used for business and leisure flying.

Diocese[link]

Agen is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese that comprises the Département of Lot and Garonne. It is a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bordeaux.

International relations[link]

Twin towns – Sister cities[link]

Agen is twinned with:

• Tuapse, Russia
• Dinslaken, Germany^[2]
• Llanelli, Wales, United Kingdom
• Toledo, Spain^[3]
• Corpus Christi, United States

Notable people[link]

As place of birth

• Bernard Palissy (c. 1510–1590), potter – according to some accounts, he may have been born in Saintes
• Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540–1609), scholar
• Pierre Dupuy (1582–1651), scholar
• Joseph Barsalou (1600–1660), physician
• Godefroi, Comte d'Estrades (1607–1686), diplomatist and marshal
• Bernard Germain Étienne comte de La Ville-sur-Illon La Cépède (1756–1825), naturalist
• Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1780–1846), naturalist
• Jacques Jasmin (1798–1864), Provençal poet
• Joseph Chaumié (1849–1919), politician
• William Grover-Williams (1903–1945) racer and SOE agent
• Michel Serres (born 1930), philosopher and author
• Jacques Sadoul (born 1934), author
• Jean Cruguet (born 1939), jockey who won the U.S. Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
• Alain Aspect (born 1947), physicist
• Francis Cabrel (born 1953), singer-songwriter and guitarist
• Bernard Campan (born 1958), actor and film director
• Stéphane Rideau (born 1976), actor

As residence

• Nostradamus lived in Agen from 1531 until at least 1534. He was married to a local woman with whom he had two children.

Miscellaneous[link]

Agen is the "capital of the prune", a local produce sold as a sweet (stuffed with prune purée) or as an after-dinner delight (prunes soaked in Armagnac – a type of brandy). Every September, the Prune festival organizes rock concerts, circuses and prune tasting.

See also[link]

• SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne, a French rugby union club based in Agen
• Agenais, or Agenois, a former province of France

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Agen

• site de la ville
• office de tourisme
• Diocese of Agen – Catholic Encyclopædia article

v t e Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department Agen Agmé Agnac Aiguillon Allemans-du-Dropt Allez-et-Cazeneuve Allons Ambrus Andiran Antagnac Anthé Anzex Argenton Armillac Astaffort Aubiac Auradou Auriac-sur-Dropt Bajamont Baleyssagues Barbaste Bazens Beaugas Beaupuy Beauville Beauziac Bias Birac-sur-Trec Blanquefort-sur-Briolance Blaymont Boé Bon-Encontre Boudy-de-Beauregard Bouglon Bourgougnague Bourlens Bournel Bourran Boussès Brax Bruch Brugnac Buzet-sur-Baïse Cahuzac Calignac Calonges Cambes Cancon Casseneuil Cassignas Castelculier Casteljaloux Castella Castelmoron-sur-Lot Castelnaud-de-Gratecambe Castelnau-sur-Gupie Castillonnès Caubeyres Caubon-Saint-Sauveur Caudecoste Caumont-sur-Garonne Cauzac Cavarc Cazideroque Clairac Clermont-Dessous Clermont-Soubiran Cocumont Colayrac-Saint-Cirq Condezaygues Coulx Courbiac Cours Couthures-sur-Garonne La Croix-Blanche Cuq Cuzorn Damazan Dausse Dévillac Dolmayrac Dondas Doudrac Douzains Durance Duras Engayrac Escassefort Esclottes Espiens Estillac Fals Fargues-sur-Ourbise Fauguerolles Fauillet Ferrensac Feugarolles Fieux Fongrave Foulayronnes Fourques-sur-Garonne Francescas Fréchou Frégimont Frespech Fumel Galapian Gaujac Gavaudun Gontaud-de-Nogaret Granges-sur-Lot Grateloup-Saint-Gayrand Grayssas Grézet-Cavagnan Guérin Hautefage-la-Tour Hautesvignes Houeillès Jusix Labastide-Castel-Amouroux Labretonie Lacapelle-Biron Lacaussade Lacépède Lachapelle Lafitte-sur-Lot Lafox Lagarrigue Lagruère Lagupie Lalandusse Lamontjoie Lannes Laparade Laperche Laplume Laroque-Timbaut Lasserre Laugnac Laussou Lauzun Lavardac Lavergne Layrac Lédat Lévignac-de-Guyenne Leyritz-Moncassin Longueville Loubès-Bernac Lougratte Lusignan-Petit Madaillan Marcellus Marmande Marmont-Pachas Le Mas-d'Agenais Masquières Massels Massoulès Mauvezin-sur-Gupie Mazières-Naresse Meilhan-sur-Garonne Mézin Miramont-de-Guyenne Moirax Monbahus Monbalen Moncaut Monclar Moncrabeau Monflanquin Mongaillard Monheurt Monségur Monsempron-Libos Montagnac-sur-Auvignon Montagnac-sur-Lède Montastruc Montauriol Montaut Montayral Montesquieu Monteton Montignac-de-Lauzun Montignac-Toupinerie Montpezat Montpouillan Monviel Moulinet Moustier Nérac Nicole Nomdieu Pailloles Pardaillan Parranquet Le Passage Paulhiac Penne-d'Agenais Peyrière Pindères Pinel-Hauterive Pompiey Pompogne Pont-du-Casse Port-Sainte-Marie Poudenas Poussignac Prayssas Puch-d'Agenais Pujols Puymiclan Puymirol Puysserampion Rayet Razimet Réaup-Lisse La Réunion Rives Romestaing Roquefort Roumagne Ruffiac Saint-Antoine-de-Ficalba Saint-Astier Saint-Aubin Saint-Avit Saint-Barthélemy-d'Agenais Saint-Caprais-de-Lerm Saint-Colomb-de-Lauzun Sainte-Bazeille Sainte-Colombe-de-Duras Sainte-Colombe-de-Villeneuve Sainte-Colombe-en-Bruilhois Sainte-Gemme-Martaillac Sainte-Livrade-sur-Lot Sainte-Marthe Sainte-Maure-de-Peyriac Saint-Étienne-de-Fougères Saint-Étienne-de-Villeréal Saint-Eutrope-de-Born Saint-Front-sur-Lémance Saint-Georges Saint-Géraud Saint-Hilaire-de-Lusignan Saint-Jean-de-Duras Saint-Jean-de-Thurac Saint-Laurent Saint-Léger Saint-Léon Saint-Martin-Curton Saint-Martin-de-Beauville Saint-Martin-de-Villeréal Saint-Martin-Petit Saint-Maurice-de-Lestapel Saint-Maurin Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Balerme Saint-Pardoux-du-Breuil Saint-Pardoux-Isaac Saint-Pastour Saint-Pé-Saint-Simon Saint-Pierre-de-Buzet Saint-Pierre-de-Clairac Saint-Pierre-sur-Dropt Saint-Quentin-du-Dropt Saint-Robert Saint-Romain-le-Noble Saint-Salvy Saint-Sardos Saint-Sauveur-de-Meilhan Saint-Sernin Saint-Sixte Saint-Sylvestre-sur-Lot Saint-Urcisse Saint-Vincent-de-Lamontjoie Saint-Vite Salles Samazan Sauméjan Saumont Sauvagnas La Sauvetat-de-Savères La Sauvetat-du-Dropt La Sauvetat-sur-Lède Sauveterre-la-Lémance Sauveterre-Saint-Denis Savignac-de-Duras Savignac-sur-Leyze Ségalas Sembas Sénestis Sérignac-Péboudou Sérignac-sur-Garonne Seyches Sos Soumensac Taillebourg Tayrac Le Temple-sur-Lot Thézac Thouars-sur-Garonne Tombebœuf Tonneins Tourliac Tournon-d'Agenais Tourtrès Trémons Trentels Varès Verteuil-d'Agenais Vianne Villebramar Villefranche-du-Queyran Villeneuve-de-Duras Villeneuve-sur-Lot Villeréal Villeton Virazeil Xaintrailles

Otto Lilienthal
Otto Lilienthal, c. 1896
Born	Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal 23 May 1848 (1848-05-23) Anklam, Province of Pomerania
Died	10 August 1896 (1896-08-11) (48 years old) Berlin
Cause of death	Glider crash
Resting place	Lankwitz Cemetery, Berlin
Nationality	Prussian, German
Occupation	Engineer
Known for	Successful gliding experiments
Spouse	Agnes Fischer (1878)
Children	4 [1]
Relatives	Gustav Lilienthal, brother

Otto Lilienthal (May 23, 1848 – August 10, 1896) was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach established earlier by Sir George Cayley. Newspapers and magazines published photographs of Lilienthal gliding, favorably influencing public and scientific opinion about the possibility of flying machines becoming practical. For his contributions to the field of aviation at such a crucial time he is often referred to as "The Father of Flight."

Personal life[link]

Early life[link]

Lilienthal was born in Anklam, Pomerania Province, Prussia. He attended grammar school in Anklam, and also studied the flight of birds with his brother Gustav (1849–1933) ^[2]. Fascinated by the idea of manned flight, Lilienthal and his brother made strap-on wings, but failed in their attempts to fly. He then attended the regional technical school in Potsdam for two years and trained at the Schwarzkopf Company before becoming a professional design engineer. He would later attend the Royal Technical Academy in Berlin.

In 1867 he began his experiments on the force of air in earnest, interrupted when he volunteered to serve in the Franco-Prussian War. As a staff engineer in various engineering companies, he received his first patent for a mining machine. Five years later, he founded his own company to make boilers and steam engines. Lilienthal published his famous book Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation in 1889.

Otto Lilienthal was born to middle-class parents. They had eight children, but only three of them survived infancy: Otto, Gustav, and Marie.^[3] The brothers worked together all their lives on technical, social and cultural projects.

On June 6, 1878, Otto married Agnes Fischer, daughter of a deputy. Music brought them together, she was trained in piano and voice, and Otto played the French horn and had a good tenor voice.^[4] After marriage they took up residence in Berlin. They had four children: Friedrich, Anna, Fritz and Frida.^[1]

Experiments in flight[link]

Mechanics of White Stork flight in his Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst (1889)

Lilienthal in mid-flight, c. 1895

Lilienthal's greatest contribution was in the development of heavier-than-air flight. He made his flights from an artificial hill he built near Berlin and from natural hills, especially in the Rhinow region.

A sketch toward a second hang glider in about 1891 involved a triangle control frame with a complex basebar that would lead to lower double kingposts while the apex of the triangle would serve as a single kingpost;^[5] his filing of a U.S. Patent in 1894 directed pilots to grip the "bar" for carrying and flying the hang glider.^[6] The A-frame of Percy Pilcher and Otto Lilienthal echoes in today's control frame for hang gliders and ultralight trike aircraft. Working in conjunction with his brother Gustav, he made over 2,000 flights in gliders of his design starting in 1891 with his first glider version, the Derwitzer, until his death in a gliding crash in 1896. His total flying time was five hours.^[7]

At the beginning, in 1891, he succeeded with jumps and flights covering a distance of about 24 metres (79 ft). In 1893, in the Rhinow Hills, he was able to achieve flight distances as high as 350 metres (1,150 ft).^[1] This record remained unbeaten for him or anyone else at the time of his death.^[8]

He could use the updraft of a 10 m/s wind against a hill to remain stationary with respect to the ground, shouting to a photographer on the ground to manoeuvre into the best position for a photo.

Lilienthal did research in accurately describing the flight of birds, especially storks, and used polar diagrams for describing the aerodynamics of their wings. He made many experiments in an attempt to gather reliable aeronautical data.

Projects[link]

Models of his gliders

During his short flying career, Lilienthal developed 18 different models (15 monoplanes and three biplanes).^[9] His gliders were carefully designed to distribute weight as evenly as possible to ensure a stable flight. Lilienthal controlled them by changing the centre of gravity by shifting his body, much like modern hang gliders. However they were difficult to maneuvre and had a tendency to pitch down, from which it was difficult to recover. One reason for this was that he held the glider by his shoulders, rather than hanging from it like a modern hang glider. Only his legs and lower body could be moved, which limited the amount of weight shift he could achieve.

Lilienthal made many attempts to improve stability with varying degrees of success. These included making a biplane which halved the wing span for a given wing area, and by having a hinged tail-plane that could move upwards to make the flare at the end of a flight easier. He speculated that flapping wings of birds might be necessary and had begun work on such a powered aircraft.

The unveiling ceremony of the new monument in Berlin. Gustav (left) and Paul Baylich, August 1932

While his lifelong pursuit was flight, he was also an inventor and devised a small engine that worked on a system of tubular boilers. His engine was much safer than the other small engines of the time. This invention gave him the financial freedom to focus on aviation. His brother Gustav (1849–1933) was living in Australia at the time, and Lilienthal did not engage in aviation experiments until his brother's return in 1885.

There are 25 known patents of Otto Lilienthal.^[10]

Jumping-off places[link]

At the beginning Lilienthal's training area was a hill formation called "Maihöhe", near the village of Rhinow. He built a 4 metres (13 ft) high shed, in the shape of a tower, on top of it. This way, he obtained a "jumping off" place 10 metres (33 ft) high. The shed served also for storing his apparatus.^[11]

In 1884 Lilienthal built an artificial conical hill in Lichterfelde (near his home), called "Fliegerberg".^[12] It allowed him to launch his gliders into the wind no matter which direction it was coming from.^[9] The hill is 15 metres (49 ft) high. There was a regular crowd of people that were interested in seeing his gliding experiments.^[13]

In 1932, the Fliegerberg was redesigned by a Berlin architect Fritz Freymüller as a memorial to Lilienthal.^[14] On top of the hill was built a small temple-like construction, consisting of pillars supporting a slightly sloping round roof. Inside is placed a silver globe inscribed with particulars of famous flights.^[15] Otto's brother Gustav and the old mechanic and assistant Paul Baylich attended the unveiling ceremony on August 10, 1932 (40 years after Otto's death).

Worldwide notice[link]

Reports of Lilienthal's flights spread in Germany and elsewhere, with photographs appearing in scientific and popular publications. Among the those who photographed him were pioneers such as Ottomar Anschütz and American physicist Robert Williams Wood. He soon became known as the 'father of flight' as he had successfully controlled a heavier than air aircraft in sustained flight.

Lilienthal was a member of the Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt, and regularly detailed his experiences in articles in its journal, the Zeitschrift für Luftschifffahrt und Physik der Atmosphäre, and in the popular weekly publication Prometheus. These were translated in the United States, France and Russia. Many people from around the world came to visit him, including Samuel Pierpont Langley from the United States, Russian Nikolai Zhukovsky, Englishman Percy Pilcher and Austrian Wilhelm Kress. Zhukovsky wrote that Lilienthal's flying machine was the most important invention in the aviation field. Lilienthal corresponded with many people, among them Octave Chanute, James Means, Alois Wolfmüller and other flight pioneers.

Final flight[link]

On August 9, 1896 Lilienthal went as usual to the Rhinow Hills. The day was very sunny, but not too hot (about 20°C). First flight was successful and he reached a distance of 350 metres (1,150 ft) in his "Normal Glider".^[16] During the second flight Lilienthal's glider stalled. He tried to re-establish lift by swinging his body back to correct the attitude of the glider. However, that maneuver failed and he fell from a height of 17 metres (56 ft), while still in the glider.^[17]

Paul Beylich, Lilienthal's glider mechanic, transported him by horse drawn carriage to Stölln, where he was examined by a physician. Lilienthal had a fracture of third cervical vertebra and soon became unconscious.^[16] Later that day he was transported in a cargo train to Lehrter train station in Berlin, and next morning to clinic of Ernst von Bergmann (one of the most famous and successful surgeons in Europe at the time). Lilienthal died there few hours later (about 36 h after the crash), his last words to his brother Gustav were "sacrifices must be made".^[16][18] The official cause of death was a fracture of the spine.^[17]

Otto Lilienthal was buried at Lankwitz public cemetery in Berlin.

Legacy[link]

Lilienthal's research was well known to the Wright brothers, and they credited him as a major inspiration for their decision to pursue manned flight. However, they abandoned his aeronautical data after two seasons of gliding and began using their own wind tunnel data.^[19]

The Lilienthal monument, Berlin 2006

Of all the men who attacked the flying problem in the 19th century, Otto Lilienthal was easily the most important. ... It is true that attempts at gliding had been made hundreds of years before him, and that in the nineteenth century, Cayley, Spencer, Wenham, Mouillard, and many others were reported to have made feeble attempts to glide, but their failures were so complete that nothing of value resulted.

—Wilbur Wright ^[20]

Berlin's busiest airport, Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport, is named after him.

In September 1909 Orville Wright was in Germany making demonstration flights at Tempelhof aerodrome. He paid a call to Lilienthal's widow and on behalf of himself and Wilbur paid tribute to Lilienthal for his influence in aviation and on their own initial experiments in 1899.

Lilienthal in fiction[link]

• Lilienthal plays a major part (in absentia) in Theodora Goss's short story "The Wings of Meister Wilhelm," nominated for a World Fantasy Award and published in her anthology In the Forest of Forgetting.
• A fictional characterization of Lilienthal was resurrected as an evil clone in the Japanese Read or Die (2001) novels, anime, and manga.
• A Lilienthal glider serves as a major plot element in Paul Gazis' Webserial "The Airship Flying Cloud, R-505".^[21]
• Lilienthal is mentioned as a "great scientist" in the video game Civilization Revolution.

Gallery[link]

Otto Lilienthal was regularly joined by photographers at his request. Most of them are well known, like Ottomar Anschütz. Lilienthal was also constantly taking his own photographs of his flying machines after 1891.^[22]

There are at least 137 known photographs documenting his test flights, some of excellent quality. All of them are available online at Otto Lilienthal Museum website. The only negatives, preserved in the Deutsches Museum in Munich, were destroyed during World War II.^[23]

See also[link]

Aviation portal

• Lilienthal Gliding Medal
• Otto Lilienthal Museum
• Aviation history
• Albrecht Berblinger
• Abbas Ibn Firnas
• George Cayley
• Jean-Marie Le Bris
• John Joseph Montgomery
• German inventors and discoverers

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Lilienthal, Otto (1911). Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation. reprinted 2001: ISBN 0-938716-58-1 (Translation from German edition, Berlin 1889: Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst reprinted 2003: ISBN 3-9809023-8-2
• Crouch, Tom D (1989). The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-30695-X
• Nitsch, Stephan (1991). From the jump to the flight. Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin. ISBN 3-327-01090-0

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Otto Lilienthal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Otto Lilienthal

• Biography / family tree of Otto Lilienthal
• Lilienthal's appendix from Chanute's book Progress in Flying Machines 1893.
• Movies and simulations
• Otto Lilienthal at Answers.com