Jean Louis Conneau (8 February 1880

Lodève Lodève (; , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Hérault, in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefe ...

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

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 ...

– 5 August 1937, Lodève), better known by the pseudonym André Beaumont, was a pioneer French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, and

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

manufacturer.

Flying career

Conneau used the pseudonym "Beaumont" because, as a serving member of the French armed forces, he was not permitted to use his own name. He earned his French pilot's license, No. 322, on 7 December 1910 , and his military pilot's license, No. 4, on 18 December 1911.

Air races

In 1911 he won three of the toughest aeronautical tests: the 'Paris-Rome' race, the first '' Circuit d'Europe'' (Tour of Europe) (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

- Liege-

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Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

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-Calais-Paris) on 7 July 1911, and the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' Circuit of Britain Race (

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and

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) on 26 July 1911, flying a

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft from the Aviation in the pioneer era, pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. ...

. He also participated in the ill-fated 1911 Paris to Madrid air race in May 1911. In June 1911, during the Paris-Liege leg of the ''Circuit d'Europe'', his support engineer and teammate

Léon Lemartin Théodore Clovis Edmond Lemartin, known as Léon Lemartin (20 October 1883 Dunes, Tarn-et-Garonne – 18 June 1911, Vincennes), was a French pioneer aviator and test pilot who set a world record on 3 February 1911 at Pau, France when he carrie ...

was involved in a fatal accident on take-off.

Aircraft manufacture

In 1912 he became the technical director of Donnet-Lévèque, which manufactured

s. In 1913 he co-founded

Franco-British Aviation Franco-British Aviation (usually known by its initials FBA) was an aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century, headquartered in London and with its production facilities around Paris. Specialising in seaplanes, it was established in 1913 by ...

(FBA) to build flying boats (French ''hydravions''). It had its headquarters in London and a factory in Paris and supplied both the French and British armed services. As a flying boat pilot, he commanded squadrons at

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Bizerte Bizerte (, ) is the capital and largest city of Bizerte Governorate in northern Tunisia. It is the List of northernmost items, northernmost city in Africa, located north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under Fr ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

during

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 ...

(1914–1918). He worked at Franco-British Aviation perfecting flying boats for the French Navy from 1915 until 1919.

Publications

*''Mes trois grandes courses'', (''My three major races'') Hachette, Paris, 1912.

References

External links

The Great 1911 Air Race visits Whipton
Whipton, a stopping point for the contestants in the 1911 Circuit of Britain race) {{DEFAULTSORT:Conneau, Jean 1880 births 1937 deaths Aviation history of France French aviation pioneers Members of the Early Birds of Aviation People from Lodève