Étienne Dormoy (10 February 1885, in

Vandoncourt Vandoncourt () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Vandoncourt lies southeast of Hérimoncourt and from the Swiss border. It occupies a transitional position between the Vo ...

, France – 28 February 1959, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, USA) was an aeronautical engineer and a designer of aircraft.

Biography

Etienne Dormoy graduated in 1906 as an electrical engineer from

Institut industriel du Nord The Institut industriel du Nord (IDN) was the engineering school and research institute at École Centrale de Lille from 1872 to 1991, within the campus of the Lille University of Science and Technology (France). History École des arts indust ...

(

École Centrale de Lille Located in the campus of Science and Technology (Cité Scientifique) of the University of Lille in Villeneuve-d'Ascq ( European Metropolis of Lille - Hauts-de-France); École Centrale de Lille is a renowned graduate engineering school, with roots ...

, France). He worked as an aircraft designer for Deperdussin ( Deperdussin Monocoque (SPAD)) in France. He met Harold D. Kantner in France in 1913. He was then seconded to Maximilian Schmitt Aeroplane & Motor Works (Paterson, NJ), wherein he designed the first monocoque fuselage aircraft produced in USA. With this

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, Harold D. Kantner won the NY Times race on 4 April 1914. The aircraft was re-engineered as a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with a 100 hp engine and tested for military applications at San Diego, CA. Dormoy returned to France at the beginning of World War I, working for SPAD. In 1917, he joined the French industry delegation in the United States for SPAD technology transfer to

Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decades ...

at Elmwood (Buffalo, NY). After the war, Dormoy worked for the

Engineering Division The Engineering Division was a division of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps in the United States Department of War. It was formed on 31 August 1918, under the direction of Lt Col Jesse G. Vincent, to study and design American versions of f ...

of the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

McCook Field McCook Field was an airfield and aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was operated by the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps and its successor the United States Army Air Service from 1917 to 1927. It was named fo ...

(Dayton, OH) from 1919 to 1925. There, he tested aerial applications, including a United States Army Air Service Curtiss JN-4 modified for aerial crop dusting in 1921 . At

, he designed the ultra-light

Dormoy Bathtub The Dormoy Bathtub was a simple-to-construct, high wing racing aircraft of the 1920s. Design and development The Bathtub was developed by Etienne Dormoy, a French engineer at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio as a simple low-cost and ultra-light air ...

in 1924, after two prototypes built in 1919 and 1920. Dormoy earned the 'Dayton Daily News Light Airplane Race and Rickenbacker Trophy' in 1924. Dormoy joined Buhl Aircraft Company in Detroit, MI, from 1925 to 1932, wherein he designed several types of sport and utility aircraft. Dormoy contributed to the first type-approval of a US aircraft (US type certificate n°1 - March 1927 for Buhl-Verville CA-3/J-4 Airster). Acting as Buhl's chief engineer, Dormoy designed the Buhl Airsedan in 1928 (number built > 60) and the cheap

Buhl Bull Pup The Buhl LA-1 Bull Pup was a light sports airplane developed in the United States in 1930. It was a mid-wing wire-braced monoplane with fixed tailskid undercarriage and an open cockpit for the pilot. Buhl developed the Bull Pup as a cheap aircraf ...

in 1930 (number built > 100) that were relative successes at the onset of the Great Depression. Buhl Airsedan Spokane Sun God was used to make the first nonstop roundtrip flight across the United States in August 1929. Dormoy also prototyped the Buhl A-1 Autogyro, world first autogyro with rear propulsion motor in 1931. Dormoy joined

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

in Seattle, WA, around 1932-1934 and Consolidated Aircraft Corporation of San Diego ( Convair-

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

) in San Diego, CA, from 1936 to 1958.

Aircraft designs

Image:Deperdussin Monocoque.JPG, SPAD Deperdussin Monocoque (1911) Image:SPAD XIII 040510-F-1234P-019.jpg, SPAD (1917) Etienne Dormoy and John A. Macready in front of 1st crop duster aircraft.JPG, E. Dormoy (left) and pilot Lieut. J. A. Macready (right) in front of the 1st crop duster airplane (August 3, 1921) Hopper of 1st crop duster aircraft.jpg, Hopper designed by E. Dormoy for the first crop duster airplane Image:Dormoy Bathtub 1.jpg, Dormoy's Flying Bathtub (1924) Image:J4 buhlverville.JPG, Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster, first certified aircraft (US type approval n°1 - 1927) Image:Buhl CA-6 Air Sedan. Spokane Sun God.jpg, Buhl Airsedan (1928) Image:BuhlPupInFlight.jpg,

(1930) Image:Buhl A-1 Autogiro - autogyro with rear push propeller engine - designer Etienne Dormoy and pilot James Johnson - 1931.jpg, Etienne Dormoy in front of the Buhl A-1 Autogyro (1931) Image:Boeing P26.jpg, Boeing P-26 Peashooter (1932) Image:Convair 240 Western AL NC9409H (4390997784).jpg, Convair 240 * Maximilian Schmitt Aeroplane & Motor Works : First monocoque fuselage aircraft produced in USA, derived from

Deperdussin Monocoque The Deperdussin Monocoque was an early racing aircraft built in 1912 by the Aéroplanes Deperdussin, a French aircraft manufacturer started in 1911 and reorganized as the Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés ( SPAD) in 1913. It is so nam ...

* SPAD : US adaptation and production of SPAD aircraft for American Expeditionary Forces and

, including 189

SPAD S.VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and rug ...

and 893 SPAD S.XIII *

Orenco B The Orenco B was a prototype American fighter aircraft of World War I. It was a single-engined, single-seat biplane that flew in 1918. Although it demonstrated good performance, it did not enter large scale service. Design and development The Ore ...

* Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster : The Airster CA/J-4 is the first type-approved US aircraft (US

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

n°1 - March 1927) *

Buhl CA-1 Airster The Buhl CA-1 Airster was a sports airplane developed in the United States in 1930. It was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed tailwheel undercarriage and an open cockpit for the pilot. The CA-1 was designed for air-racing a ...

* Buhl Airsedan (number built > 60) *

(number built > 100) * Buhl A-1 Autogyro : World first autogyro with rear propulsion motor * Boeing P-26 Peashooter * Convair 240

References

* Bruce H. Charnov, From autogiro to gyroplane: the amazing survival of an aviation technology, Praeger, 2003 ( and ), P. 89, 90, 98 * Robert F. Pauley, Michigan Aircraft Manufacturers Images of Aviation Series, Arcadia Publishing, 2009 ( and ) *Jeffrey R. Davis, M.D., Robert Johnson, Jan Stepanek, M.D, Fundamentals of Aerospace Medicine, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008 ( and ) * Bill Gunston, World encyclopaedia of aircraft manufacturers: from the pioneers to the present day, Naval Institute Press, 1993 ( and )

Links

Etienne Dormoy, 1885-1959 (Biography)

Photos : Dormoy in 1925

Dormoy's pilot licence from Fédération aéronautique internationale

US Patent 2045638 from Etienne Dormoy assigned to Boeing, Means to assist movement of airplane control surface, December 18, 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dormoy, Etienne 1885 births 1959 deaths French aerospace engineers École centrale de Lille alumni