Émile Eugène Aubrun (25 August 1881 – 14 November 1967) was a French aviator who received national attention for finishing second in the 1910 Circuit de l'Est.

Early life

Émile Eugène Aubrun was born on 25 August 1881, in Brunoy, France. In 1909 he served an aviator apprenticeship while attending the Blériot school, in Pau, France. He graduated with a degree in engineering and he became interested in aviation. He received his pilot license from the

Aéro-Club de France The Aéro-Club de France () is one of the oldest French aviators' associations still active. It was founded as the Aéro-Club on 20 October 1898 as a society 'to encourage aerial locomotion' by Ernest Archdeacon, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la ...

on 6 January 1910.

Career

In August 1910 he competed in the Circuit de l'Est and flew a

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. ...

monoplane aircraft with a 50 hp Gnome engine. The sixth stage of the race passed The Golden Virgin in

Albert, Somme Albert () is a Communes of France, commune in the Somme (department), Somme Department in France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is located about halfway between Amiens and Bapaume. History Albert was founded as a Roman ...

. Aubrun used the sculpture as a compass and it was referred to in news as the "famous golden virgin". He flew circles around the sculpture with his Blériot XI aircraft in order to get a closer look. When asked about his laps around the statue he said,

Not having occasion to see such a site every day, I made the best of it and examined the statue from near at hand making several circles round it.

Alfred Leblanc won the race and Aubrun finished second. Thirty-five people had entered the race and Leblanc and Aubrun were the only two pilots to finish. The race finished at

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called in French. It is one of Paris's entrances and is located from Notre Dame Cathedral, whic ...

, and 200,000 spectators were gathered to see the finish. In 1910 he participated in the International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park: an event and the prizes were valued at US$72,300 (). In 1910 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that Aubrun broke a record for flying 55.5 miles per hour over 180 miles. He finished in 3 hours 33 minutes and seven seconds. In 1911, he was director of the flying school established in

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

by Deperdussin. During the First World War he worked in aeronautical construction. After the war he served in the aircraft control office. It was there that he pioneered the use of airplanes to reveal submarines which were underwater, and the rescue of submarine crews. In 1912 he was involved with experiments regarding the use of airplanes to explore the sea.

Awards

Officer of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Gallery

File:1910 Bleriot monoplane.png, 1910 Bleriot monoplane File:Bordeaux Beau-desert-Mérignac semaine d'aviation sept 1910 22a.jpg, Bordeaux Beau-desert-Mérignac aviation week September 1910 File:Circuit de l'est 1910 Charleville Mézières.JPG, Circuit de l'Est 1910 File:Tombe de Emile Aubrun (cimetière de Montmartre).JPG, Tombe de Emile Aubrun (cimetière de Montmartre) File:Émile Aubrun at the controls of a Deperdussin 1910.jpg, Émile Aubrun at the controls of a Deperdussin 1910

References

External links