Lucien Chauvière (1876–1966) was a French aeronautical engineer. He is best known for his ''Integrale''

propellers A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

, which were the first aerodynamically advanced propellers manufactured in Europe. Lucien Chauvière was born in Paris on 11 February 1876. and educated at

Arts et Métiers ParisTech Arts et Métiers ParisTech () is a French engineering and research institute of higher education. It is a ''grande école'', recognized for leading in the fields of mechanics and industrialization. Founded in 1780, it is among the oldest French i ...

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 ...

, where his studies included the theory of propeller design. He became a member of the Aero-Club de France in December 1906, sponsored by the engineer Andre Farcot. The same month he exhibited an apparatus designed to investigate the stability of helicopters at the Aero-Club's exhibit at the annual Salon d'Automobile. In 1908 he made a diameter laminated wooden propeller for the

Clément-Bayard No.1 __NOTOC__ The Clément-Bayard No.1, Bayard-Clément was a French military semi-rigid airship of 1908 developed by Astra Clément-Bayard, which was founded by industrial entrepreneur Adolphe Clément-Bayard, in response to a French Army decision ...

semi-rigid airship A semi-rigid airship is an airship which has a stiff keel or truss supporting the main envelope along its length. The keel may be partially flexible or articulated and may be located inside or outside the main envelope. The outer shape of the ai ...

, which broke the existing speed record for airships. He was also responsible for the construction of a number of heavier-than-air aircraft, some to his own design and some designed by others, including the Alfred de Pischoff biplane of 1907 and the Clement-Bayard monoplane of 1909 designed by

Victor Tatin Victor Tatin (1843–1913) was a French engineer who created an early airplane, the ''Aéroplane'', in 1879. The craft was the first model airplane to take off using its own power after a run on the ground. The model had a span of and weighed ...

He later established a factory at Quai Jules Guesde in the

Vitry-sur-Seine Vitry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Name Vitry-sur-Seine was originally called simply Vitry. The name Vitry comes from Medieval Latin ''Vitriacum'', and before that ''Victori ...

suburb of

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 ...

. A Chauvière propeller was fitted to the aircraft used 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 ...

to make the first heavier-than-air flight across the

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. Following the success of his first propellers, Chauvière opened factories in France, Germany and Russia. Many of the pioneer aircraft constructors used his propellers, not simply because of their quality but also because they were available off the shelf from a large stock. Several hundred were made during 1910. In 1913 he produced an experimental variable-pitch propeller, which was fitted to the Clement-Bayard VI airship. Over 100,000 Chauvière propellers were built for Allied aircraft during the First World War, around 25% of total production. After the war Chauvière carried out pioneering work in the construction of metal propellers, particularly the use of forged

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...

, and also worked on the development of variable-pitch propellers."Some Aviation Accessories"
''Flight'', 5 July 1913. A Chauvière metal propeller was fitted to the Blériot 110 monoplane flown by Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi to break the world endurance record in March 1931.

The ''Integrale''

The success of Chauvière's propellers was due to both aerodynamic sophistication and careful construction. Previous wooden propellers had been carved from a single piece of timber. The ''Integrale'' introduced a new technique, constructing the propeller from a number of

laminated Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels Shattered windshi ...

planks. This had several advantages: *The density of a length of wood can vary considerably along its length, the part coming from the lower part of the trunk tending to be denser. It is of great importance to

balance Balance may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...

a propeller about its axis of rotation: even a slight imbalance will result in potentially catastrophic vibration. Careful selection of the lengths of wood used eliminated this problem. *Since the pieces of wood were thinner, less allowance had to be made for concealed flaws within the wood. This enabled the propellers to be up to 25% lighter. *The layers of wood were assembled in a fanned arrangement. This partially established the form of the propeller, reducing the amount of carving necessary and also reducing the amount of waste.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauvière, Lucien 1876 births 1966 deaths French aerospace engineers Engineers from Paris Knights of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French engineers Aeronautical engineers Arts et Métiers ParisTech alumni