(1875�1944), whose estate is called today Domaine de Nysdam. Caters was
fond of car and motorboat races; in 1908, he purchased his first
triplane from Voisin, followed by at least five Voisin biplanes. In
1909-1910, he flew in air shows all over Europe (Monaco, Douai, Ostende,
Francfort, Berlin, Antwerp, Warsaw, Athens, St. Job-in-'t Goor,
Johannisthal, Montdorf, Budapest, D�sseldorf and Stockel) and founded
the Aviator company in order to produce the Aviatik biplanes under a
Farman licence. In 1910, along with Jules Tyck, he shipped two Aviator
biplanes and a Bl�riot monoplane to India. On 21 December 1910, he flew
in Tollygunj for 27 minutes with Mrs. Sen Beil, the Kuchbehar
Maharajah's sister, as his passenger. On 2 February 1911, the two pilots
flew in Bangalore in the presence of the Mysore Maharajah. Back to
Europe, Caters dissolved the Aviator company and abandoned airshows.
During the First World War, he joined the Air Force and commanded the
flying school of �tampes, near Paris, where he retired in 1916. Caters
was celebrated in March 1937 during the inauguration of the Belgian
Vieilles Tiges section. Caters holds several records: he was the first
Belgian aviator (Sin't Job-in't-Goor, November 1909), the first Belgian
licensed pilot (A�ro-Club de Belgique, 2 December 1909), kilometer gold
medal awardee in 1909, the first Belgian aircraft manufacturer and the
first instructor of the emerging Belgian Air Force
