Jean Boulet (16 November 1920,

Brunoy Brunoy () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The tenor Louis Nourrit (1780–1831) died in Brunoy. The city has a church Saint-Medard, richly decorated in the Lou ...

– 13 February 2011,

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

) was a French aviator. In 1957, Boulet was awarded the

Aeronautical Medal The Aeronautical Medal (french: "Médaille de l'Aéronautique") is a state decoration of France established by the decree of February 14, 1945. It is awarded to both military personnel and civilians for outstanding accomplishments related to t ...

; in 1983, he became one of the founding members of the French National Air and Space Academy. He died at the age of 90.

Early life

He was born on 16 November 1920 in Brunoy, near Paris, Jean Boulet was a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique he entered in 1940 and was first hired in 1947 by the

SNCASE SNCASE (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est'') or Sud-Est was a French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed on February 1, 1937, by the nationalization and merger of Lioré et Olivier, Potez ...

, which would become

Sud Aviation Sud Aviation (, ''Southern Aviation'') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est (SNCASE, or ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est'') and Sud-Ouest (SNCASO or ''Société n ...

and then later the helicopter division of

Aérospatiale Aérospatiale (), sometimes styled Aerospatiale, was a French state-owned aerospace manufacturer that built both civilian and military aircraft, rockets and satellites. It was originally known as Société nationale industrielle aérospatiale ( ...

Career

Having been trained in the United States earlier in his life to become a military pilot with the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

, he was one of the first foreign pilots to fly a helicopter in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Over the years he would fast become one of the greatest pioneers in the history of rotorcraft flight testing.

Aviation records

Boulet set several rotorcraft recordsFAI Record ID #749 - Time to climb to a height of 9 000 m. Class E-1b (Helicopters: take off weight 500 to 1000 kg)
''

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 21 September 2014."History of Rotorcraft World Records, Sub-class:E-1 (Helicopters), General, Group 2:turbine"
''Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)''. Retrieved 3 November 2010. for distance,FAI Record ID #977 - Distance over a closed circuit without landing. Class E-1 (Helicopters), pistonFAI Record ID #982 - subclass
''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 21 September 2014. altitudeFAI Record ID #9876 - Altitude without payload. Class E-1 (Helicopters), turbine
''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 21 September 2014.FAI Record ID #9874 - Altitude without payload. Class E-1 (Helicopters), turbine
''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 21 September 2014. and speed.FAI Record ID #981 - Speed over a closed circuit of 1 000 km without payload. Class E-1c (Helicopters: take off weight 1000 to 1750 kg), piston
''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 21 September 2014. On 21 June 1972, Boulet set the world record (still valid FAI Record ID #754 - Altitude without payload. Class E-1 (Helicopters), turbine

FAI Record ID #753 - subclass
''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 21 September 2014.) for the highest altitude reached by a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

, when he piloted an

Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama The Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama is a French single-engined helicopter developed to meet hot and high operational requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. It combines the lighter Aérospatiale Alouette II airframe with Alouette III components and ...

to an altitude of . When he reduced power and began to descend, because of the extreme cold, the engine flamed out, and Boulet performed the highest ever, power off, full touch down

autorotation Autorotation is a state of flight in which the main rotor system of a helicopter or other rotary-wing aircraft turns by the action of air moving up through the rotor, as with an autogyro, rather than engine power driving the rotor. Bensen, Igor ...

, landing with absolutely no power. This high altitude autorotation also set a new world record. Because of his unpowered flight back to the ground, he is also credited with the largest altitude flown with an

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

Publications

*''L'Histoire de L'hélicoptère, Racontée Par Ses Pionniers, 1907-1956'' (Editions France-Empire, 1982) *''History Of The Helicopter: As Told By Its Pioneers, 1907-1956'', Claude Dawson (translator) (Editions France-Empire, 1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulet, Jean 1920 births 2011 deaths École Polytechnique alumni Flight altitude record holders French aerospace engineers French aviation record holders French test pilots Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Rotorcraft flight record holders Sud Aviation Supaéro alumni