Bernard Ziegler (12 March 1933 – 4 May 2021) was a French pilot and engineer, who served in

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

as senior vice president for engineering, well known for his evangelical zeal for the application of the

fly-by-wire Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional aircraft flight control system#Hydro-mechanical, manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic sig ...

system in the Airbuses. He was the son of Airbus founder Henri Ziegler.

Biography

Bernard Ziegler was born in

Boulogne-sur-Seine Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the centre of Paris. It is a subprefecture of the Hau ...

, France. He was educated in the

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

( class of 1954), as an engineer and

École de l'Air École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

(1955), for his pilot training and military commission. Ziegler began his career as a fighter pilot in the French air force. He saw action in the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

and was decorated twice. Principal medals and decorations received include the Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite,

Médaille de l'Aéronautique The Aeronautical Medal () is a state decoration of France established by the decree of February 14, 1945. It is awarded to both military personnel and civilians for outstanding accomplishments related to the field of aeronautics. Originally e ...

Croix de la Valeur Militaire Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort d ...

and

Officier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. In August 1961 the Vallee Blanche Aerial Tramway was badly damaged when an aeroplane of the French Air Force piloted by Bernard Ziegler tore its hauling cable. Three cars crashed and six people were killed.''Time''
/ref> He continued his studies in

École nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

( Supaéro) (1961) and was later posted to

École du personnel navigant d'essais et de réception EPNER (''École du Personnel Navigant d’Essais et de Réception'') is the French test pilot school, based on the Istres Air Base, Istres Le Tube Airbase, France. One of the five main test pilot schools in the western hemisphere, EPNER maintains c ...

( EPNER), the French Air Force

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

establishment in 1964. He was the chief test pilot for the

Dassault Mirage G The Dassault Mirage G, also known as the Mirage IIIG,Carbonel 2023. was a variant of the French Dassault Mirage series of supersonic warplanes, but with a variable-sweep wing. Three prototypes were flown; one single-engined G and two twin-engi ...

in 1968. At

, his career spans from chief test pilot (1972), to senior vice president for flight and support and then, to senior vice president for engineering. As a test pilot, he flew the first flights of the

Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first Twinjet, twin-engine, double-aisle Wide-body aircraft, (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured f ...

, A310,

A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the famil ...

and the

A340 The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...

. Bernard Ziegler was the most influential figure in developing the cockpit design and fly-by-wire control system for the Airbus airliners. He proposed that numerous technological innovations be applied to Airbus aircraft; for example, using composites, twin-engine configuration for the A300,

and many others. He was the guiding force in the creation of the flight envelope protection, incorporated in the Airbus flight-control software. This innovation allows the pilot to apply the maximum control forces considered necessary, while preventing inadvertent inputs that could place the aircraft outside the safety margin. This feature is considered by many to be highly beneficial in avoiding unusual attitudes in flight and in safely maximizing the effectiveness of evasive maneuvers in response to GPWS warnings. For his efforts in advancing the fly-by-wire cause, he was honoured by the

Flight Safety Foundation The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals to help solve safety problem ...

in 1998. He retired from Airbus after 25 years of service in 1997.

References

Bibliography

*''Cowboys d'Airbus'' by Bernard Ziegler, Privat, 2008.

External links

Airbus web page

Carnet Personnalités aeronautiques et spatiales
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziegler, Bernard 1933 births 2021 deaths French people of German descent People from Boulogne-Billancourt French aerospace engineers École Polytechnique alumni Supaéro alumni French aviators French test pilots French military personnel of the Algerian War Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Recipients of the Aeronautical Medal Recipients of the Cross for Military Valour Officers of the Legion of Honour Airbus people