Jean Hubert (4 November 1885 – 2 November 1927) was a French aviation pioneer and aircraft designer. He was the Chief Engineer of

Société des Avions Bernard ''Société des Avions Bernard'' () was a French aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century. History The company was founded in April 1917 by Adolphe Bernard as Etablissements Adolphe Bernard to licence-build SPAD fighters. Immediately ...

().

Biography

Jean Hubert was born in Saint-Vaast-la-Houghe in France. He attended school in

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

then at the

Institut Industriel du Nord The Institut industriel du Nord (IDN) was the engineering school and research institute at École Centrale de Lille from 1872 to 1991, within the campus of the Lille University of Science and Technology (France). History École des arts ind ...

, where he graduated in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. In 1908, he was one of

Wilbur Wright The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

's first passengers in his first French flights at Auvours. He expanded his experience in aircraft design at the Esnault-Pelterie Aircraft Company, then at

Breguet Aviation The ''Société anonyme des ateliers d'aviation Louis Breguet'' (), also known as Breguet Aviation (), was a French aircraft manufacturer. The company was set up in 1911 by the aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet. Breguet Aviation was extreme ...

. At the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he volunteered as a pilot in

Avord Air Base Avord Air Base or BA 702 (), named after Captain Georges Madon, is a base of the French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'air et de l'espace) located north northwest of Avord in central France. Airbase 702 hosts about 2,500 personnel (French ...

, then he designed several prototypes of fighter and bomber aircraft and helped to establish an aircraft factory for producing

Caudron G.3 The Caudron G.3 was a single-engined French sesquiplane built by Caudron, widely used in World War I as a reconnaissance aircraft and trainer. Development The Caudron G.3 was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as a development of their earli ...

s and

SPAD XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bé ...

s. After the war, he joined

where he designed several aircraft prototypes. One of his prototypes, the Bernard SIMB V.2, piloted by Florentin Bonnet won the

flight airspeed record An air speed record is the highest airspeed attained by an aircraft of a particular class. The rules for all official aviation records are defined by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which also ratifies any claims. Speed records ...

on November 11, 1924 with 448.171 km/h. When he died in 1927, his Oiseau Tango prototype was renamed "Ingénieur Hubert" in his honor. A version of his

Bernard 190 The Bernard 190 or Bernard-Hubert 190 was a French airliner of 1928. It was a high-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional configuration, based on the Bernard 18. Compared with its predecessor, it kept the same basic design but featured rede ...

prototype dubbed "Oiseau Canari" was used in the first successful French aerial crossing of the North-Atlantic in 1929.

Airplanes designed by Jean Hubert

Bernard SIMB V.1 The Bernard SIMB V.1 was a French single seat racing monoplane designed to compete for the 1924 Beaumont Cup. It crashed on its first flight and was not rebuilt. Design and development The Bernard V.1 is alternatively known as the SIMB V.1: t ...

Racer. One built, 1924. * Bernard SIMB V.2 V.1 with shorter span. One built, 1924. The V.3 was a proposed development with retractable undercarriage. * Bernard SIMB AB 10 Revision of AB.C1, 1924. * Bernard SIMB AB 14 Fighter. One built, 1925. * Bernard SIMB AB 15 Fighter. One built, 1926. * Bernard 18 Eight seat transports. Two built, 1927. *

Ten seat transports, Fourteen built, 1928 (first flight).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubert, Jean 1885 births 1927 deaths People from Manche French aviation pioneers Aviation inventors French aerospace engineers École centrale de Lille alumni Burials at Batignolles Cemetery