1910: The first public flight

The history of aviation stretches far back into the past, when people often tried to imitate the motion of birds. The first aircraft were developed in the second half of the 19th century – beginning with gliders, and then moving on to engine-powered planes. Pardubice has been associated with aviation from the very earliest days. The pioneers of human flight in the region were the cousins Jan Kašpar (1883–1927) and Eugen Čihák (1885–1958). They were both members of wealthy families in Pardubice.
The two young men were fascinated with everything that was new, and they loved engines. At first they rode motorcycles, and then they drove cars – also working at the renowned Laurin & Klement car factory. In mid-1909 they left their employment there, moved to Pardubice and declared their intention to build aircraft.
In late 1909 and early 1910, Jan Kašpar built his own plane with the assistance of Eugen Čihák and local tradesmen. He built a hangar on land belonging to his father, near what is now platform 4 at Pardubice’s railway station.

Kašpar’s plane had a three-sided body and a weak motor, and it proved unable to fly. But Kašpar had an ace up his sleeve: probably in the autumn of 1909 he ordered a Blériot XI airplane direct from France. This was a tried and tested machine – indeed, Louis Blériot had used one to complete his flight over the English Channel. The plane (with the serial number 76) arrived in Pardubice on 10 April 1910.

After several attempts, on 16 April 1910 Kašpar finally succeeded in completing a direct flight of 2 kilometres, and on 19 June of the same year he undertook the first public flight in Pardubice. He went on to fly numerous times in Bohemia and Moravia.

Jan Kašpar earned his place in Czech aviation history with a flight from Pardubice to Prague on 13 May 1911. On 5 December of the same year he completed his first flight carrying a passenger, his friend the journalist Jaroslav Kalva; he took off from Mělník and landed in Prague. However, he was involved in numerous accidents and incidents. In 1912 he only performed two public flights, and after his father’s death in 1913 he stopped flying altogether.

Eugen Čihák worked on building his own plane, assisted by his brother Hugo. However, their attempts were unsuccessful, so eventually Eugen bought a French plane from the Saulnier company, and on 16 July 1911 he undertook his first public flight, in the town of Poděbrady. He continued flying until the outbreak of the First World War.