Jean Hubert (aircraft designer)

Jean Hubert (4 November 1885 – 2 November 1927) was a French aviation pioneer and aircraft designer. He was the Chief Engineer of Société des Avions Bernard (French: Bernard Aircraft Company).[1]

Jean Hubert
Born(1885-11-04)4 November 1885
Died2 November 1927(1927-11-02) (aged 41)
Car accident at Formigny, France
NationalityFrench
Alma materInstitut industriel du Nord (École Centrale de Lille)
OccupationAircraft designer
Known forBernard 18 Oiseau Tango ; Bernard 191GR Oiseau Canari (aircraft for first flight from France to North America)
AwardsLégion d'honneur

Biography edit

Jean Hubert was born in Saint-Vaast-la-Houghe in France.[2] He attended school in Cherbourg then at the Institut Industriel du Nord, where he graduated in electrical engineering.

In 1908, he was one of Wilbur Wright's first passengers in his first French flights at Auvours.[3] He expanded his experience in aircraft design at the Esnault-Pelterie Aircraft Company, then at Breguet Aviation.

At the beginning of World War I, he volunteered as a pilot in Avord Air Base, then he designed several prototypes of fighter and bomber aircraft and helped to establish an aircraft factory for producing Caudron G.3s and SPAD XIIIs.

After the war, he joined Société des Avions Bernard where he designed several aircraft prototypes.

One of his prototypes, the Bernard SIMB V.2, piloted by Florentin Bonnet won the flight airspeed record on November 11, 1924 with 448.171 km/h. When he died in 1927, his Oiseau Tango prototype was renamed "Ingénieur Hubert" in his honor.

A version of his Bernard 190[4] prototype dubbed "Oiseau Canari" was used in the first successful French aerial crossing of the North-Atlantic in 1929.

Airplanes designed by Jean Hubert edit

 
Avions Bernard
Licence Hubert

References edit

  1. ^ Liron, J.L. (1990). Les avions Bernard. Paris: Éditions Larivère.
  2. ^ Blondel la Rougery (1927). L'Aérophile, revue technique et pratique de la locomotion aérienne, Volume 35, 1-14 Novembre 1927. Paris: Aéro-Club de France.
  3. ^ L'Aéronautique, revue mensuelle illustrée, Volume 9, no. 92-103. Paris: Gauthier-Villars. 1927.
  4. ^ a b Lefranc, Jean-Abel (March 1, 1928), "Avion Bernard-Hubert", La Nature (2780), Paris: Masson et Cie: 202–205