Richard Farman
{{Short description|British-French aeronautical engineer and aviator}}
{{About|the Anglo-French aeronautical engineer|the American Football player|Dick Farman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Richard Farman
|image = Dick Farman 1920.jpg
|image_size = 150px
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|caption = Dick Farman in 1920
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|birth_date = 1872
|birth_place = Paris, France
|death_date = 31 January 1940 (aged 67–68)
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|citizenship = {{hlist|France|United Kingdom}}
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Richard Farman (1872–1940) was a British-French aeronautical engineer, aviator, and eldest of the Farman brothers who were pioneers of early aviation. He was better known as Dick Farman using the then popular sobriquet in place of the formal Richard. Like his brothers he was also active among pioneer racing cyclists and motocyclists.{{cite web|url=https://www.cyclingranking.com/rider/112404/tom-dickie-mudford-farman|title=Tom Dickie Mudford "Dick" Farman's Palmares at CyclingRanking.com|publisher=CyclingRanking.com}}
Biography
Born in Paris, France to British parents, he was the eldest sonIt seems that also there was an elder sister who died very young. of a well to do newspaper correspondent working there. With his brothers he was educated at home and they were allowed unusual freedom to follow personal interests. With his brother Henry, who was also trained as an engineer, he set up Paris's largest automobile agency, the Palais de l'Automobile, dealing in Delaunay-Bellevilles, Panhard-Levassors, and Renaults. Together they wrote The Aviator's Companion, published in 1910, describing their early flying achievements.Peter G. Cooksley, Farman, Henry (1874–1958), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
He became an electrical engineer, and built the first electric trams in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro. He was an author of many technical works on engines, also an aviator in 1914 to 1918, and was a director of an aircraft factory in Lyon.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}
After World War I, he founded{{citation needed|date=October 2011|reason=Maurice and Henry had collaborated since 1912; it is not clear from sources at what point Dick became involved}} Avions H.M.D. Farman,H.M.D. seems to stands for the initials of the three brothers; Henri, Maurice, and Dick. also known as Farman Aviation Works, with his two younger brothers Henri and Maurice, in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Dick concentrated on the business side of manufacture at Société Anonyme des Usines Farman and their airline,Lignes Aériennes Farman (from 1922 S.G.T.A. Société Générale de Transport Aérien commonly called Lignes Farman) which claimed to have flown the first international airline service Paris-Brussels on 22 March 1919 which became part of Air France in 1933. He is rarely mentioned in most Farman stories in later days.[http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/farman.html The Pioneers: An Anthology - Henry, Maurice and Dick Farman]
In spite of his scientific knowledge and techniques, he dealt with administrative and commercial services.Review of French Aviation, Icare magazine[http://www.revue-icare.com/] No. 82, Autumn 1977, 'Les Lignes Farman' by Philippe Courtois At the age of 65 Dick retired, after the French nationalization of its aircraft industry in 1937 ended their independence, the brothers refusing to remain as employees.The Farman Brothers Retire; Plane Factories Nationalised, The Observer, London 28 Nov. 1937 Dick Farman died in Paris 31 January 1940.The New International Year Book 1940, A compendium of the world's progress, Dodd Mead, New York, 1941
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Category:French people of British descent