Frédéric Airault
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Frédéric Airault (; born 18 May 1868 in Paris, died 7 October 1944 in Clichy) was a French
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
and
airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...
pilot who was the technical director of a number of automobile and aviation firms before the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.


Biography

Airault enrolled at the
École des Arts et Métiers École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
campus in
Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...
in 1884, gaining his ''
diplôme d'ingénieur The ''Diplôme d'Ingénieur'' (, often abbreviated as ''Dipl.Ing.'') is a postgraduate degree in engineering ''(see Engineer's Degrees in Europe)'' usually awarded by the '' Grandes Écoles'' in engineering. It is generally obtained after five to ...
'' in 1887. Airault served with the French Navy for five years before joining the
Société française de constructions mécaniques Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...
in 1892. In 1897, he designed a V-4 24-horsepower engine with progressive friction transmission, and starting in 1899 he worked at the car and bicycle manufacturer
Hurtu Hurtu was a pioneering French car made by Diligeon et Cie based in Albert, Somme from 1896 to 1930. As well as cars, the company also made sewing machines and bicycles. The company was founded in 1880 as Hurtu, Hautin et Diligeon as a maker of ...
as engineer, head of research and then Technical Director. He stayed there for four years, and in 1903 became a co-director of the
Buchet Buchet () was a French motorcycle and automobile manufacturer between 1899 and 1930. Origins Société Buchet was founded in 1888 at Levallois-Perret as a producer of lamps. In 1899 Élie-Victor Buchet began to manufacture engines for auto-mak ...
factories in
Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department and ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It lies on the right bank of the Seine, some from the Kilometre z ...
, a northwestern suburb of Paris. Élie Buchet, founder of Buchet, had died in late 1903. Airault left Buchet in 1905 to become the managing director of Fabbrica di Automobili Florentia. Airault stayed there for a year before becoming the technical director of the
Société française des trains Renard Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...
in 1906. The
Daimler Company The Daimler Company Limited ( ), before 1910 known as the Daimler Motor Company Limited, was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by Harry John Lawson, H. J. Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing bas ...
manufactured the Road Train under licence in the UK. The industrialists
Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe (; 25 September 1846 – 24 November 1919), born Salomon Henry Deutsch, was a successful French petroleum businessman (known as the "Oil King of Europe"Howard, Fred, ''Wilbur & Orville: A Biography'', Dover Publicati ...
and
Édouard Surcouf Édouard Surcouf (1862–1938) was a French engineer, maker and pilot of dirigibles, and industrialist. Biography Astra triplane, participant at the military concours d'aviation, 1911 Édouard Surcouf, an aeronautics enthusiast from an ea ...
formed
Société Astra ''Société Astra des Constructions Aéronautiques'' was a major French manufacturer of balloons, airships, and aeroplanes in the early 20th century. It was founded in 1908 in aviation, 1908 when Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe purchased Édouard Su ...
to make
dirigible An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat ( lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ...
airships. Airault was the director of the aeronautic park for the Astra III airship ''Ville-de-Nancy'' (piloted by
Édouard Surcouf Édouard Surcouf (1862–1938) was a French engineer, maker and pilot of dirigibles, and industrialist. Biography Astra triplane, participant at the military concours d'aviation, 1911 Édouard Surcouf, an aeronautics enthusiast from an ea ...
and :fr:Henry Kapférer) at the
Exposition Internationale de l'Est de la France The Exposition Internationale de l'Est de la France or the International Exhibition of the East of France was an exhibition held in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nancy in 1909. The exhibition opened on May 1 and ran until October 31. The exhibition ...
in Nancy in 1909. Airault piloted "Osmanli", the first Turkish airship, at the Parc Saint-Cloud on 18 April 1909. He became technical director of
Compagnie générale transaérienne The ''Compagnie générale transaérienne'' (CGT: General Trans-Air Company) was a predecessor of Air France, founded in 1909. At first it operated airships in France and Switzerland, then added float planes and direct flights from Paris to London. ...
(CGT, later
Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...
, founded in October 1909 by
Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of t ...
), which was also owned by
Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe (; 25 September 1846 – 24 November 1919), born Salomon Henry Deutsch, was a successful French petroleum businessman (known as the "Oil King of Europe"Howard, Fred, ''Wilbur & Orville: A Biography'', Dover Publicati ...
.Blériot had used an Anzani 3-cylinder W fan engine of about 3 litres to power the Blériot IX across the English Channel on 25 July 1909 (he had previously used
Antoinette Antoinette is a given name, that is a diminutive feminine form of Antoine and Antonia (from Latin ''Antonius''). People with the name include: Nobles * Antoinette de Maignelais, Baroness of Villequier by marriage (1434–1474), mistress of ...
engines).
He oversaw the installation of hydrogen gas plants at Nancy and then at Beauval for CGT.These were possibly
water gas Water gas is a kind of fuel gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is produced by "alternately hot blowing a fuel layer okewith air and gasifying it with steam". The caloric yield of the fuel produced by this method is about 10% o ...
plants for continuous production of hydrogen. See
While testing the Astra VI ''l’España'' on 5 November 1909, the propeller shaft ruptured, breaking the nacelle. Airault avoided a catastrophe, landing safely near
Frémainville Frémainville () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. See also *Communes of the Val-d'Oise department The following is a list of the 183 Communes of France, communes of the Val-d'Oise Departments of ...
,
Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...
(now
Val d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the ÃŽle-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...
), some 50 miles (85 km) from
Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the ÃŽle-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...
. Brought back to Beauval, repaired and modified, ''l’España'' was delivered to the Spanish military authorities at the start of 1910. In August 1910, Airault received his pilot-aeronaut certificate for dirigible balloons (along with Robert Balny d'Avricourt.) CGT started operating Astra dirigibles in France and Switzerland. Airault, as the company's chief pilot, directed operations of Surcouf's Astra VII ''Ville de Lucerne'' in August 1910 in
Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...
. CGT followed this with a seaplane service on Lake Lucerne and Lake Geneva, then cross-channel flights in 1911. Henri de la Meurthe also bought the
Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...
aircraft firm after Edouard Nieuport died in a flying accident in 1911. In 1912, Airault lived at 25, Rue de Marignan, Paris.''Paris-Hachette'' 1912, p. 3.
(in French).


References

;Notes ;Citations ;Sources * * *


External links


Contemporary advertisements for Hurtu and Buchet products
*Photo o

Concours du Grand Prix de L'Aero-Club de France, Esplanade des Invalides, Paris, 26 September 1909. * Photo o
Astra VI dirigible España
with Kapférer, Airault, and Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe. Retrieved 22 March 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Airault, Frederic 1868 births 19th-century French engineers Year of death missing 20th-century French engineers