Gérard Paul Alain Feldzer (born 10 February 1944) is a consultant and aeronautical popularizer. He is a former French airline pilot, President of Comité régional de tourisme d'Île-de-France (Regional Committee of Île-de-France Tourism) since May 2010,[1] and Vice-Président of Ports de Paris (Ports of Paris).

Gérard Feldzer
Born (1944-02-10) 10 February 1944 (age 80)
NationalityFrench
EducationEngineer
Airline Transport Pilot Licence
Alma materÉcole des techniques aéronautiques et de construction automobile
École nationale de l'aviation civile
Occupation(s)Former head of the Musée de l'Air (French Air and Space Museum)
EmployerAir France
TitleCaptain
SuccessorCatherine Maunoury

He has also been Regional Advisor of Île-de-France for Europe Écologie[2] since March 2010 and a close friend of Nicolas Hulot.

Biography edit

Gérard Feldzer was born in 1944 in Aurec-sur-Loire. He started his career as an airline pilot at Air Algérie (1973–1974) and moved to Aéropostale where he did night flights from 1974-1976. At Air France, he was a pilot on Sud Aviation Caravelle, Boeing 707 and 747 aircraft, Captain (1989–1992) then Captain Instructor (1992–2004) on Airbus A310, A340 and A330.

In 1985, he applied for an Astronaut job at CNES and was one of ten finalists.

He became President of the Aéro-Club de France[3] between 1995 and 2005. The centenary of the club took place during his presidency, and he organized a major exhibition of planes in Paris on the Champs-Élysées to celebrate it.

Between 2005 and August 2010, Gérard Feldzer was head of the Musée de l'Air (French Air and Space Museum) at Le Bourget.[4] He made many animations and creations there including "Planete Pilote" ("Planet pilot"), the first space exhibition in the world aimed at 6-12 year olds.

He co-founded Zebunet (a micro-credit organisation for poor farmers in southern countries [5]) in 2001 and he has been its Vice-President since then. He also founded the "Les ailes de la ville" scheme, which provides training and integration for young suburban people through repairing and constructing aircraft.[6] As Founder and President of the "Transports passion" association, he has organized their annual meetings, exhibitions and events on ecomobility since 2005.[7]

On 1 January 2012, he became an Officier of the Légion d'honneur.[8][9]

Media edit

Radio edit

Feldzer has had a weekly radio show on France Info since 2009. Recent episodes include Circulez! il y a le monde à voir (Move! there is the world to see)).[10]

TV series edit

Feldzer wrote and directed the following series:

  • Le Bar de l'escadrille (France 2, 1985)
  • Un ticket pour l'espace (France 2, 1990)
  • Les allumés du sport (Canal+ 1992)

and co-wrote the transport series Transportez-moi in 2011, which aired on LCP TV in 2012.

Books edit

  • Demain, je serai pilote.[11]

Bibliography edit

  • Demain je serai pilote, Gallimard, 1999 (ISBN 978-2-0705-2445-7)
  • Académie nationale de l'air et de l'espace and Lucien Robineau, Les Français du ciel, dictionnaire historique, Le Cherche midi, June 2005, 782 p. (ISBN 2-7491-0415-7), p. 212, FELDZER, Gérard

References edit

  1. ^ (in French) Le Bourget : Une femme succède à Gérard Feldzer au musée de l’Air
  2. ^ (in French) Gérard Feldzer Archived 2012-10-20 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ (in French) Les bons vœux de Gérard Feldzer Archived 2012-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ (in French) Gérard Feldzer Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Zebu.net". Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  6. ^ "Les ailes de la ville". 6 February 2012. Archived from the original on 11 June 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  7. ^ (in French) Gérard Feldzer
  8. ^ (in French) Légion d'honneur : la promotion du 31 décembre 2011
  9. ^ (in French) Journal Officiel du dimanche 1er janvier 2012
  10. ^ (in French) Gérard Feldzer sur France Info
  11. ^ (in French) Gérard Feldzer Archived 2012-05-16 at the Wayback Machine