Léon Levavasseur

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Léon Levavasseur
Hubert Latham (center) and Léon Levavasseur (right)
Antoinette V8 engine of the Antoinette VII

Léon Levavasseur (born December 7, 1863 in Le Mesnil-au-Val , Cherbourg , France , † February 26, 1922 in Puteaux ) was a French engineer, aircraft manufacturer and inventor. Among other things, he developed a V8 engine in which he used direct fuel injection and evaporative cooling . From 1904 to 1912 he headed the engine manufacturer Société Antoinette .

Life

Levavasseur was born in Le Mesnil-au-Val near Cherbourg, the son of a member of the Navy. At first he studied fine arts , but then switched to engineering with a special interest in arc lamps and gasoline engines ( combustion engines with ignition, gasoline engines ).

The Antoinette company

Engine company and company formation

In the summer of 1902 Levavasseur suggested to the industrialist Jules Gastambide that powerful, light propulsion engines were necessary for powered flight, and promoted the manufacture of these engines. He also suggested that the engines should be named after Gastambide's daughter, Antoinette. Gastambide financed the company. In the same year, on August 28, 1902, Levavasseur applied for a patent (No. 339068) for a light V8 engine with 59 kW (80 hp). As early as 1904, most racing boats in Europe that won awards were powered by Antoinette engines. During this time he designed various engines that had up to 32 cylinders.

Levavasseur's Antoinette engines often featured advanced innovations, including gasoline direct injection and evaporative cooling.

Turbulent times and the end of Antoinette

Levavasseur left Antoinette in November 1909 and returned in March 1910 as Technical Director. On his return he designed the Antoinette military aircraft Monobloc , a streamlined monoplane with cantilever wings. Due to its enormous weight, the underpowered machine was not able to take off during the test flights in Reims in 1911 and was rejected by the military. The Antoinette company went bankrupt shortly thereafter.

After Antoinette

Levavasseur began working on an aircraft with a variable wing surface in late 1918. With it Levavasseur won the "Safety in Airplanes" award and the invention was acquired by the French government.

Levavasseur died in poverty in February 1922.

literature

Web links

Commons : Léon Levavasseur  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Villard, Contact! , P. 51
  2. ↑ Les moteurs et aéroplanes ANTOINETTE , p. 2
  3. ^ Flight magazine, November 13, 1909: Aviation News of the Week "M. Levavasseur Retires from Antoinette Co."
  4. ↑ Flight Magazine, March 19, 1910: "M. Levavasseur Rejoins The Antoinette Co."
  5. ^ Flight magazine, May 14, 1942, p. 476: Modernity in 1911
  6. ^ Flight magazine, May 14, 1942, p. 477
  7. ↑ a b Villard, Contact! , P. 53
  8. ↑ Flight magazine, December 26, 1918, p. 1475
  9. ^ Flight magazine, October 28, 1920, p. 1136: "A French Variable Wing"
  10. ^ Flight magazine, June 2, 1921, p. 377: "French Airplane Safety Prizes"
  11. ↑ a b Flight magazine, March 2, 1922, p. 136: "Death of Levavasseur"
personal data
SURNAME Levavasseur, Léon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French engineer, inventor and aircraft designer; Engines and fixed wing aircraft
DATE OF BIRTH December 7, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Le Mesnil-au-Val , Cherbourg , France
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1922
Place of death Puteaux