Henri Mignet

Henri Mignet (born October 19, 1893 in Saintes , † August 30, 1965 in Aïn Harrouda , Morocco ) was a French aircraft designer and pilot. He was the initiator of the aviation association Réseau du Sport de l'Air (RSA) and is regarded as the forefather of all amateur designers and popular aviation. Mignet coined the term Pou-du-ciel ("sky louse").

Life

In 1911, with the correspondence with Gustav Lilienthal, the great lifelong passion for aviation began. He built his first aircraft, the HM-1-1 , in 1912. The hang glider is a monoplane designed according to the model of the devices by Otto Lilienthal . From 1914 to 1918 the First World War interrupted the continuation of further plans. Mignet spent these years as a radio operator in the military and fell ill with malaria in the last year of the war. In 1920 he finished his first motorized device, the HM-2 , which resembled a Blériot , and of which he later said that "all elements worked, but never together". After tireless design work, he had to raise poultry in 1925 in order to secure the family's livelihood and to finance further aircraft. During this time, the HM-6 , which with a motor behind the pilot, became a pioneer of modern ultralight aircraft , as well as the MH-7 , a helicopter . In 1926 Mignet married Annette Triou.

HM-8 in Cologne

In 1928, Mignet constructed the HM-8 based on the remains of the HM-6 . The machine was his first aircraft that could really fly, and for the first time earned him recognition from the ranks of professional designers. Just one year later, flight amateurs built the HM-8 and demonstrated that it was airworthy. While he was encouraging the amateurs to build the HM-8, he directed his research towards other models.

In 1931 he published a handwritten book How I built my Avionnette with the plans for the HM-8. In it Mignet fought for the simplification of the control, the safety of the aircraft and a general aviation of the people. The numerous aircraft accidents caused by a stall followed by a spin prompted him to investigate a new concept. He did away with the elevator, which was attached either to the rear or, as in the Canard model , to the front. His new model HM-13 , called Himmelslaus , was only controlled in two axes, while the others derived from the Blériot type had to be controlled in three axes.

The new design was a tandem with two approximately equal sized wings. The pilot acted directly on the angle of attack of the front wing with the control stick. Mignet also abolished the ailerons by increasing the rudder and providing automatic lateral stability . This new aircraft was characterized by the fact that it automatically turned and did not allow a spin so easily. The front wing produced a splitting effect with the rear wing , which prevented the flow from being torn off at the rear wing. If the speed is too low, the Pou-du-ciel sinks like a parachute at a speed of 2 to 3 m / s with an inclination angle of 45 °.

In 1933, Mignet realized the final version of the sky louse , built it himself in a month and completed the first flight with the HM-14 on September 10th . In 1934, the aircraft was exhibited at its own stand at the 14th Aviation Salon. Mignet published his first printed book, devoted to the plans and construction of the HM-14, causing a wave of replicas. The sky louse has been recreated hundreds of times and was particularly successful in France. After several catastrophic crashes in 1935, often caused by poor adherence to plans, overloading, wrong center of gravity and insufficiently researched aerodynamic effects, the lobby of the rich sport pilots, who would have liked to get rid of these vermin of the air and the often not wealthy amateur pilots , managed a temporary one To obtain a flight ban for this type of aircraft in France.

In 1936 Henri Mignet conducted wind tunnel tests with his HM-14 in France and Great Britain. These attempts brought the sky louse a better airfoil profile and changes in the plans that should make centering accidents impossible. The HM-14 could now be approved again and formed the basis for generally accessible aviation.

Mignet then traveled to the USA for a long time, including Brazil , Morocco and Japan. He drew and built whole series of different pou-du-ciels.

In 1946 he drew the HM-290 and HM-293 , which were derived from the HM-280 , a light and easy-to-transport aircraft for the army, for amateur construction. The HM-293, an ingenious construction with an unladen weight of only 110 kg and a maximum speed of 180 km / h, was probably the most successful sky louse. It could be folded or unfolded by one person in just a few minutes and was easily moved as a trailer with a car.

In 1957, Mignet returned to France and carried out studies that resulted in the HM-360 single - seater and the HM-380 two-seater. These constructions are still built and flown by large numbers of amateurs around the world.

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