Louis Béchereau (July 25, 1880 in Plou, Cher – March 18, 1970 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French aeronautical engineer and pioneer of French

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

Biography

After having attended the École nationale professionnelle in

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, Béchereau went to the Arts et Métiers in Angers in 1896, and finished his studies in 1901. Before joining the army he took part in a model-making competition organized by '' L'Auto'', taking first prize for a model subsequently manufactured for sale in Parisian department stores. Demobilised in 1902, Béchereau joined a mechanical construction factory in Bezons where he took part in the development of a prototype car designed by Clément Ader. He took a number of trial flights with the Ader Éole or Avion. In 1903 a nephew of Clément Ader in Levallois created the ''Société de Construction d'Appareils Aériens''. In 1909 a client of the firm, Armand Deperdussin, had ordered the construction of an aeroplane that was exhibited in the windows of the Bon Marché store in Paris. In 1910 Deperdussin founded the ''Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin'' ( SPAD) and appointed Béchereau as chief engineer. From the beginning, Béchereau conceived the idea of ''

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

'' fuselages, which would allow hitherto unthinkable levels of performance. His direct collaborators, Louis Janoir, chief pilot, and André Herbemont, were also graduates of the Arts et Métiers. Béchereau's revolutionary concept allowed the Deperdussin firm to win many prizes, including the famous Gordon Bennett Trophy in 1912 with Jules Védrines at the controls (first flight to achieve 100 mph), and again in 1913 with Maurice Prevost at the controls. In 1911, one of his collaborators was Dutch aviation pioneer Frederick Koolhoven. Following a financial scandal involving the company's founder, Louis Blériot took over the company in 1914 and renamed it ''Société Pour l'Aviation et ses Dérivés'', keeping the initials SPAD. Béchereau remained chief designer and developed numerous models, including the SPAD S.XIII. During 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 ...

, when Georges Guynemer received his first SPAD S.VII equipped with a Hispano-Suiza engine on 27 August 1916, he wrote to Louis Béchereau the next day praising the wonders of this new aeroplane. The air combat ace Guynemer thereafter had a long technical correspondence with Béchereau who he called the "ace of constructors" ("''l’as des constructeurs''"). It was Guynemer who later presented Béchereau with the medal of the Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

on 12 July 1917 in the SPAD works, in the presence of the Minister of War.L’épopée Blériot a décollé à Suresnes (see: 12 juillet 1917 : le jour où … La légion d’honneur à l’usine !
''suresnes-mag.fr'' Octobre 2020, accessed 14 December 2022 (Citation: "''Vous avez donné la suprématie aérienne à votre pays, et vous aurez une grande part dans la victoire. C'est un splendide titre de gloire. C'est avec le sentiment de l'admiration et de la grande reconnaissance que nous vous devons tous, que je vous donne l'accolade.''") Béchereau left SPAD to create the '' Société des Avions Bernard'' (also known as ''Société des trois B'') with Bernard and Marc Birkigt. He also collaborated with the

Salmson Salmson is a French engineering company. Initially a pump manufacturer, it turned to automobile and aeroplane manufacturing in the 20th century, returning to pump manufacturing in the 1960s, and re-expanded to a number of products and services ...

motor company and, in 1931, joined the carriage-builder Georges Kellner to create the Kellner-Béchereau company. On the eve of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he conceived a monoplane, the K.B.E 60, for the

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; its development was frustrated by events. The factory was destroyed by bombing in 1942 and the Kellner-Béchereau company was then merged into Morane-Saulnier. Béchereau remained a director until his retirement in 1950.

Decorations

* In 1947, Béchereau was promoted to Officier of the

. * Médaille d'Or of the Aéro-Club de France. * He was elected a membre d'Honneur of the Union syndicales des industries aéronautiques * Decorated with the Médaille de l'Aéronautique in 1950. * 1959 : laureate of the Académie des sciences and the Prix Arthur du Faÿ. * 1967 : laureate of the and elevation to the rank of Commandeur of the Légion d'Honneur.

Notes

Sources

Article by Frédéric Champlon in ''Arts et Métiers'' magazine, April 2003 (see external links).

External links

Béchereau's life and works (with photos)
on the Gadzarts website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechereau, Louis Aircraft designers French aviation pioneers Commanders of the Legion of Honour Arts et Métiers ParisTech alumni 1880 births 1970 deaths