Jean Délémontez (9 June 1918 – 7 July 2015) was a French aircraft designer. He was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

in June 1918. He is best known for his work with his father-in-law, Édouard Joly, on the

Jodel Société Avions Jodel is a French aircraft company started in 1946 by Édouard Joly and his son-in-law Jean Délémontez. History Jodel designed a range of light aeroplanes shortly after the Second World War. The popular myth is that the ...

range of light aircraft and his collaboration with Pierre Robin on the

Avions Robin Robin Aircraft is a French manufacturer of light aircraft. It succeeds to ''Centre-Est Aéronautique'', ''Avions Pierre Robin'' and Apex Aircraft (''Avions Robin'' and ''Robin Aviation''). History Centre-Est Aéronautique was formed by Pierre ...

aircraft range.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 14. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X

Career

In 1935 Delemontez joined the French airforce, where, despite numerous tries, he never managed to become a pilot. He demonstrated mechanical competences early in the career. In 1936 he had already designed his first aircraft, the D1. After studying at the Rochefort school of mechanics, he was assigned maintenance duties for the fighter aircraft of that time. In 1941 he entered the design bureau of the airforce in Toulouse. At night he proceeded with his own designs and two years later he began working for Amiot. He worked at the design bureau before joining Edouard Joly at his company for repairing agricultural machines. It was with Joly that he founded the "Société des avions Jodel" in 1946. In December 2000 Délémontez was inducted into the

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

Homebuilders' Hall of Fame. He died at the age of 97 on July 7, 2015.Décès de Jean Délémontez, le père du Jodel
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References

1918 births 2015 deaths Engineers from Lyon French aerospace engineers {{France-engineer-stub