Louis Béchereau

Louis Béchereau was a pioneer of the aviation French born on July 25th, 1880 with Plou in the Cher, died in Paris on March 18th, 1970.

After having attended the professional national school of Vierzon, it had integrated the school of the Arts and Métiers of Angers in 1896 (16 years old hardly). It was contemporary (inter alia) of Clément Ader, of Gabriel Voisin, Wilbur Wright, Henri Farman and Louis Blériot.

It finished its studies in 1901 and immediately took part before its incorporation in the army in a competition of small-scale models organized by the newspaper the car . Béchereau gained the first price, a model manufactured then in series on behalf of the Parisian department stores.

Demobilized in 1902, Béchereau joined a workshop of mechanical engineering to Bezons where it takes part in the realization of the prototype of car conceived by Clément Ader. He will then often report the tests of flights carried out with the Eole or the Avion .

A nephew of Clement Ader had created in 1903 with Levallois the “Company of Construction of Air Apparatuses”. Customer of this company, Armand Deperdussin had entrusted to him the realization of a plane 1909 which was thereafter exposed under the canopies of the Cheap. Deperdussin created then in 1910 the Production company of the Airplanes Deperdussin (SPAD) of which he entrusted the research department (technical direction) to the Béchereau young person.

Béchereau designed upon the departure of the apparatuses known as “monoshells”, with the fuselage in the very aerodynamic shape of spindle. This characteristic enabled them to reach performances hitherto unthinkable. His/her direct collaborators are also the old ones of the technical school (" Gadzarts") of which Louis Janoir, chief-pilot (CH 1901) and Andre Herbemont (CH 1909). Its revolutionary concept made it possible the Deperdussin company to gain several prices, of which famous the aeronautical Coupe Gordon Bennett in 1912 with Jules Védrines with the orders.

In 1911 one of his/her collaborators was the Dutch pioneer Frederick Koolhoven, future director of British Deperdussin and manufacturer of many Dutch planes.

Following financial embezzlements of his founder, Louis Blériot took again the company in 1914 by renaming it Société For Aviation and his Derivatives , preserving by là-même initials SPAD. Louis Béchereau remained chief of the research department and continued the development of many apparatuses of which famous SPAD XIII.

During the First World War, when Georges Guynemer accepted his first SPAD VII been driven by an engine Hispano-Suiza on August 27th, 1916, it wrote in Louis Béchereau as of the following day a letter (*) praising the wonders of this new plane. The ace of the Guynemer aerial combat had thereafter a very abundant technical correspondence with Béchereau which it called " the ace of the manufacturers ".

(* Extracted: " The apparatus is marvellous. I climbed with more than 3.000 meters in 9 minutes hardly and I carried out several complete inversions, without difficulties and without the engine stammering. I spend my day in my taxi and I would like to spend my time turning over it in all the directions " ).

It is besides the latter which gave to him the medal of Knight of the Légion of honor on July 12th, 1917 in the large hall of Company SPAD, in the presence of the Minister for the War. (Quotation: " You gave air supremacy to your country, and you will have a great part in the victory. It is a splendid claim to fame. It is with the feeling of admiration and the great recognition that we owe you all, that I give you the accodance " .)

Béchereau left then the SPAD to create the Société of the Planes Bernard (known as Société of the three B ) with Bernard and Birkigt (founder of the Hispano-Suiza Company). He also collaborated with the Société of the engines Salmson and joined in 1931 the carriage-builder Georges Kellner to create the company Kellner-Béchereau. The day before the Second world war, it still designed the monoplane embarked K.B.E 60 intended for the French National marine whose destiny was opposed by the events.

The factory was destroyed in 1942 by a bombardment and the Kellner-Béchereau company amalgamated then with the Airplanes Morane-Saulnier. Béchereau remained about it one of the directors until his retirement in 1950.

• Other decorations

• In 1947, Béchereau was promoted Officer of the Legion of Honor.

• It to him was decreed the Gold medal of the Aéro-Club of France.
• It was also elected member of Honor of the European Public Service Union of the Aircraft industries
• Décoré with the Médaille of Aeronautics in 1950.
• 1959: prize winner of the Academy of Science and the Price Arthur of Faÿ.
• 1966: prize winner of the Price Nessim Habif and rise with the rank in Commander in Legion in Honor.