Gustav Jules Eugene Blondeau (1871-1965) was an early pilot and went on to form Hewlett & Blondeau Limited, an aircraft manufacturer in the United Kingdom. He was born on 8 March 1871 in Tergnier,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, (a small town to the North East of Paris) and graduated from Farman Aircraft at Mourmelon in France on 10 July 1910, then joining the Gnome engine works. He later opened his own flying school at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

, Surrey, (the famous motor racing circuit) where he met Hilda Hewlett. Together they formed Hewlett & Blondeau and built Farman,

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

Avro Avro (an initialism of the founder's name) was a British aircraft manufacturer. Its designs include the Avro 504, used as a trainer in the First World War, the Avro Lancaster, one of the pre-eminent bombers of the Second World War, and the d ...

and

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'', the company survived in differ ...

aircraft under licence, they were the first UK producers of Caudron aircraft. Blondeau died on 3 March 1965 at 176 Old Bedford Road

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

References

People from Luton Members of the Early Birds of Aviation 1871 births 1965 deaths French emigrants to the United Kingdom {{aviation-bio-stub