Joseph Le Brix
Joseph Marie Le Brix ( born February 22, 1899 in Baden, Morbihan (France ); † September 12, 1931 in Ufa ( Russia) ) was a French military pilot and aviation pioneer.
Early Career
Le Brix occurred on April 2, 1918 in the École Navale, the naval officer school in Brest, a. He completed his basic training in seamanship armored cruiser training ship Jeanne d' Arc and served after completion of the Naval Academy on the armored cruiser Jules Michelet. Then he moved to the naval aviation, was in September 1924 observer and navigator, and acquired in March 1925, the pilot license. As of August 1925, he served with the Naval Air Squadron 5.B.2 in Rifkrieg in Morocco, in the Rif in 1923 proclaimed Republic of Riffs was destroyed by a massive French military intervention. With a Farman F.60 "Goliath" he flew mainly reconnaissance flights in southern Morocco. He took advantage of maritime navigation techniques that were not yet widely used in aviation.
Flight around the world
On October 10 1927 for a flight around the world, the two graduating successfully with their arrival in Paris on April 14, 1928 started Corvette Captain ( Capitaine de corvette ) Le Brix, as a navigator and co-pilot of Dieudonné Costes. Only the Pacific Ocean while crossing from San Francisco to Tokyo by boat. With its double-decker Breguet 19gr " Nungesser - Coli " they flew first on 10-11. October to Saint -Louis in Senegal. On 14-15. October them then scored the first non-stop flight across the South Atlantic, from Saint -Louis to Natal. In South America, the two visited each country before they then flew over Panama and Mexico to the United States. On February 6, 1928, she reached Washington. There they were awarded on 28 February 1928, the Distinguished Flying Cross. After they were flown by the United States, they traveled to San Francisco by ship to Tokyo. My flight was then further on Japan, Indochina, India, Syria and Greece. On April 14, 1928 after a total of 187 days, 57,410 kilometers flown, 43 stops and 338 flight hours, they again reached Le Bourget, near Paris, where they were greeted enthusiastically.
An undesirable side effect of their trip was the breakdown of their friendship. In Washington, it came at the reception of the French ambassador even nearly come to blows between them. Upon their arrival at Le Bourget Le Brix supposed to have said in sharp tone: "Finally I am no longer the servant of Costes. "
Le Brix became a teacher at the flight school of the Naval Academy in Brest, where he trained future pilots of naval aviation and the Air Force.
Long-haul flight attempt France - Saigon
The enmity between Le Brix and Costes was very clear in February 1929, when each of them wanted to deal with the flight from Paris to Saigon in French Indochina first in less than five stages. Le Brix and his partner Antoine Paillard started in late February at Istres Marseille and approached already Tunis before Costes has been notified in Le Bourget it. Although the engine of his machine had not yet been set, consisted of angry Costes on an immediate start. He could bring the machine with some trouble in the air, but the engine failed after a short time. Costes survived the crash into the trees of a forest near Paris. Le Brix, Paillard and her mechanic Camille Jousse flew with their Bernard GR 197 about 11,220 km to Burma, then had to make an emergency landing in a rice field and cancel the company, however. A second, begun on December 16, 1929 attempt on the Potez 34, with Maurice Rossi as co-pilot suggested, also fail; after 72 hours and 10,500 km, it had to give up at night because of severe weather over the rain forest of Burma and escape by parachute their machine on 22 December 1929.
Motor World Flight Records
From 7 to 10 June 1931, Le Brix with the Dewoitine - Marcel Doret chief pilot and the mechanic René Mesmin on the newly developed Dewoitine D.33 " trait d'Union " a new distance world record on a circuit on, as they back deposited at Istres in 70 hours 10,372 km non-stop. They found eight other circuit racing records, including the for flight duration and average speed.
Long haul flight test Paris - Tokyo
Then tried the three having the " Trait d'Union " the first non-stop flight from Paris to Tokyo. They launched on July 12, 1931 in Le Bourget, and came to the vicinity of Lake Baikal in Siberia. There you engine froze. Le Brix and Mesmin jumped off with their parachutes, and Doret put the machine in a forest in the treetops. The " trait d'Union " was a total loss, but the three airmen were left intact.
Death
On 11 September 1931, she started with the " trait d'Union II ", the second Dewoitine 33, to try again. On the morning of September 12, when flying over Ural near Ufa, turn engine failed her, and she had to give up the machine. This time Doret jumped first. It is believed that Mesmin had trouble with his parachute and Le Brix his friend did not want to leave you alone. The two came in the crash and subsequent fire of the aircraft died.
Le Brix was honored with a state funeral at the Notre - Dame de Paris and then buried in his birthplace Baden (Morbihan ).
Honors
- In January 1932 Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi called their world record test aircraft Blériot 110 in the name of " Joseph Le Brix ".
- The Rennes airport is named after him.
- In his native Baden is a museum dedicated to him and the china and mechanical toys enthusiastic couple Farkas.
- In Baden a school is named after him.
- On the facade of the Collège Jules Simon in Vannes, where he was a student, there is a memorial plaque for him.