Ludovic Arrachart (15 August 1897,
Besançon
Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland.
Capi ...
- 24 May 1933,
Maisons) was a 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 ...
.
His long-distance flights made him a pioneer of intercontinental aviation. He notably beat two world records : first flying a
Breguet 19 from Étampes to
Villa Cisneros in Africa in February 1925 and flying a
Potez 28 from Paris to
Basra
Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
in Iraq (in 1926, with his brother Paul) in June 1926.
He enlisted in the French Army at the outbreak 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 ...
, serving in the 35th Infantry Regiment. Wounded twice, he was promoted to Sergeant in 1916, before being declared unfit for duty in the infantry and transferring to the Armée de l'Air as an observer in 1917, and qualifying as a pilot in 1918. He commanded a squadron based in
Alexandretta, Syria, from 1919 to 1922, and was assigned to the Commission trials (1923–25). In June 1924 he won the
Michelin Cup long-distance flying competition. He died on 24 May 1933 when his
Caudron C.362 suffered an engine failure during preliminary trials for the
Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe.
A street was named after him in the
8th arrondissement of Lyon.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrachart, Ludovic
1897 births
1933 deaths
Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in France
French aviation record holders
People from Besançon
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1933