Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
– 1970 in
Vauville, Manche
Vauville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune La Hague.French
aerodynamicist
Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...
Levasseur-Abrial A-1
The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 was a Glider aircraft, glider built in 1922 as a result of a collaboration between French aerodynamicist Georges Abrial de Péga and constructor Pierre Levasseur (aircraft builder), Pierre Levasseur. A single example was ...
) and did some pioneering work into
tailless aircraft
In aeronautics, a tailless aircraft is an aircraft with no other horizontal aerodynamic surface besides its main wing. It may still have a fuselage, vertical tail fin (vertical stabilizer), and/or vertical rudder.
Theoretical advantages of the ...
. He designed several gliders during the 1920s before turning to lecturing the following decade, when he also became influential in the French
soaring
Soaring may refer to:
* Gliding, in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes
* Lift (soaring), a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by some aircraft and birds
* ''Soaring'' (magazine), a magazine produced ...
movement.
Abrial stopped designing new aircraft after 1932 when he abandoned his A-12 project. He was more attracted by instructorship and educational methods and played an important role in the development of soaring in France during the 1930s. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he was still active in promoting soaring in France and in
French Africa
French Africa includes all the historic holdings of France on the African continent.
Françafrique
French North Africa
* Egypt (1798-1801)
* French Algeria (1830–1962)
* Protectorate of Tunisia (1881–1956)
* Protectorate in Morocco (1 ...
.
In 1954 he came back to the design of tailless aircraft, with the A-13 "Buse" project. But this glider was never built.
sailplane
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...
, 12.65 m wingspan
*
Abrial A-3 Oricou
The A-3 ''Oricou'' (French for ''African vulture'') was a small French touring airplane designed in 1927 by Georges Abrial. It could seat two, and was powered by a 30 kW (40 hp) piston engine
A reciprocating engine, also often kno ...
(1927) Single-
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...