Benutzer:Pessottino/Hubert Le Blon

Hubert Le Blon (* 21. März 1874 in Boulogne-Billancourt oder Liancourt, Oise) on 21 March 1874.; † 2. April 1910 in [[]] ) war ein [8Frankreich|französischer]] Flugpionier, Automobilist und Unternehmer.

He drove a steam-powered Gardner-Serpollet motorcar in the early 1900s, and then switched to Hotchkiss for both the world's first Grand Prix at Le Mans in France and the inaugural Targa Florio in Sicily. At the Vanderbilt Cup races on Long Island he competed for the USA driving a Thomas

Within weeks of setting a new aviation speed record in Egypt, he died during an exhibition flight at San Sebastián, Spain. His first aircraft design, the "Humber monoplane (Le Blon type)", was displayed at the Olympia Aero Exhibition in 1910.

Familie

Seine Ehefrau Motann Le Blon teilte seine Leidenschaft für Motorsport und begleitete ihn regelmäßig als riding mechanic währned seiner Rennen und beobachtete seine Flugvorführungen. Public statements in 1903 declared: "Madame Le Blon of Paris, has accompanied her husband on most of his record runs. [She] ... has entered her new Serpollet for the Nice races, in the coming spring, and hopes to travel at ninety miles per hour thereon."

Le Blon Frères of Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, manufactured "Le Blon" and "Lynx" voiturettes from 1898 until possibly 1900.

Werdegang

Rennsport

The 1906 Vanderbilt Cup at Long Island. Hubert Le Blon in an oversteering Thomas, the first car to start, encounters a dog.

Hubert and Mme Le Blon at the 1906 Targa Florio driving a Hotchkiss 35 hp

Hubert and Mme Le Blon with their Serpollet "Oeuf de Pâques" (Easter egg) at the Gaillon Hill climb in 1902

Le Blon raced a Gardner-Serpollet steam car and set several speed records over a five-year period. Some sources report that in 1901 he drove the Gardner-Serpollet steamer to seventh place in the Paris-Berlin trail, (possibly based on an erroneous claim in his obituary in the New York Times, whilst others, including contemporaneous newspapers have no mention of him competing.).

In the 1902 Paris Grand Prix (or Paris-Arras-Paris) he finished 13th in the same Gardner-Serpollet steamer.

In 1903 Paris-Madrid race he was classified 17th in his Serpollet (after 6 hours 44 minutes 15 seconds) when the race was stopped by the police at Bordeaux due to the number of fatalities. (This race is sometimes known by its post-facto rename of VIII Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.)

In 1904 he was fifth in the Circuit des Ardennes held at Bastogne circuit, in a Hotchkiss. He participated at the Arras Speed Trials in a Serpollet steamer.

In 1905 he was hired to race French Hotchkiss and Panhard cars, and in several races his wife acted as his riding mechanic.

In 1906 he drove a Hotchkiss in both the world's first Grand Prix at Le Mans in France and at the inaugural Targa Florio in Sicily.

In 1906 he was selected by the Thomas Motor Company to race as an unpaid amateur at the American Elimination Trial for the Vanderbilt Cup, having been an employee of the French branch of E. R. Thomas Motor Co. His second place qualified for the five-car American Team, but at the main Vanderbilt Cup race he only completed nine laps. His riding mechanic was Marius Amiel.

In 1907 he drove a De Luca-Daimler in the 2nd Targa Florio, finishing 20th, 1 hour 13 minutes after the winner Felice Nazzaro. On 2 July he was badly injured when he crashed his Panhard on the 4th lap of the Grand Prix de l'Automobile Club de France at Dieppe. This led to a long period of convalescence.

Fliegerei

1910 Humber monoplane (Le Blon Type) - designed by Hubert Le Blon. Exhibited at the 1910 Olympia Aero Exhibition.

Wie viele andere Rennfahrer jener Zeit war auch Le Blon von der Luftfahrt fasziniert und erlernte in der Pilotenschule des französischen Flugpioniers Léon Delagrange das Fliegen des Eindeckers Blériot XI.

Im im September und Oktober 1909 nahm Hubert Le Blon an der Luftfahrtveranstaltung in Spa teil. Wenig später reiste er nach Doncaster in England reiste, wo er als erster Flieger bei der ersten Flugschau Großbritanniens überhaupt" startete, die am Austragungsort der St. Leger Stakes stattfand. Er wurde schnell „so bekannt wie Bleriot“ für seine geschickten, waghalsigen und mutigen Flüge und gewann den Bradford Cup für die schnellsten zehn Runden auf dem Parcours in seinem Blériot-Doppeldecker. Am 25. Oktober machte er sich beim Publikum noch mehr beliebt, als er nach dem Start bei sehr starkem Wind von einer heftigen Böe auf die Menschenmenge geschleudert wurde, aber so manövrierte, dass er über die Menschenmenge hinwegflog, einen Strömungsabriss verursachte und dann in einem menschenleeren Gebiet eine Bruchlandung machte.

Sein Ansehen als Flieger stieg, als er im Februar 1910 mit seinem Bleriot XI-Eindecker auf dem Héliopolis International Air Meeting in der Nähe von Kairo, Ägypten, einen neuen Fünf-Kilometer-Rekord von 4 Minuten 2 Sekunden aufstellte.

Le Blons erster Flugzeugentwurf, der Humber-Eindecker (Typ Le Blon), wurde 1910 auf der Aero Exhibition in Olympia, London, ausgestellt. Obwohl das Projekt von kreativem Einfallsreichtum zeugte - er plante, rittlings auf dem Flugzeug zu sitzen wie auf einem Pferd - wurde es nach Le Blons Tod eingestellt.

Hubert Le Blon flying a Bleriot XI at San Sebastián, Spain, March 1910

In 1909 Le Blon competed at the Spa aviation meeting in September–October before travelling to Doncaster, England, where he was the "first aviator to take-off at the first ever Air Show in Great Britain", held at the venue of the St. Leger Stakes. He rapidly became "as well known as Bleriot" for his skilled, daring and courageous flying, winning the Bradford Cup for the fastest ten laps of the course in his Blériot monoplane. He further endeared himself to the public on 25 October when he after taking off in very strong winds was hurled at the crowds by a strong gust, but manoeuvred to skim over the crowd, stall and then crash-land in a crowd-free area.

His renown as an aviator increased when, in February 1910, he set a new five-kilometre record of 4 minutes 2 seconds in his Bleriot XI monoplane at the Héliopolis International Air Meeting near Cairo, Egypt.

Le Blon's first aircraft design, the Humber monoplane (Le Blon type), was displayed at the Aero Exhibition at Olympia, London in 1910. Although the project showed creative ingenuity – he planned to sit astride it like a horse – the death of Le Blon led to its termination.

Tödlicher Unfall

Madame Motan Le Blon - Wife and riding mechanic of Hubert Le Blon.

Hubert Le Blon ertrank am 2. April 1910 bei einer Bruchlandung im Meer, als er bei stürmischem Wetter am Strand von Ondarreta, San Sebastián, Spanien, flog, wo er seit dem 27. März Ausstellungsflüge durchgeführt hatte. Berichten zufolge kreiste er in einer Höhe von etwa 140 Fuß über dem königlichen Palast von Miramar, als Anzani-Motor ausfiel. Als er versuchte, zur Landung zurückzugleiten, riss die Drahtverstrebung eines Flügels, woraufhin das Flugzeug umkippte und kopfüber ins Meer stürzte,[3][4] wobei es möglicherweise mit einigen Felsen kollidierte.[2][4][9] Seine Frau befand sich unter den Zuschauern.

Le Blon drowned in a crash landing into the sea on 2 April 1910 while flying in stormy weather at Ondarreta Beach, San Sebastián, Spain, where he had been performing exhibition flights since 27 March. He was reportedly circling the Royal Palace of Miramar at about 140 feet when the Anzani engine failed; as he attempted to glide back to land, a wing's wire "stay" snapped whereupon the plane flipped and crashed into the sea upside down, possibly colliding with some rocks. His wife was among the crowd that was watching.

The New York Times headlined the story thus:

„Aeronaut is dashed to death on rocks.

Le Blon, once famous motorist, was circling Spanish Royal Palace at San Sebastian.

His wife saw him fall.

The Motor failed and Machine Turned Turtle as Frenchman was trying to glide to Earth.“

According to official documents the cause of death was "drowning" although his body was injured in the impact. The official cause of the crash was attributed to "fracture of one of the wing stay wires when running into a gust of wind".

His death was reported as the sixth person in history to die in an aeroplane accident. He was awarded an Aviator's Certificate by the Aéro-Club de France in 1910.

At his funeral in San Sebastián the streets were lined with troops, shops were closed, and thousands followed his coffin to the railway station where it was transported to Paris.

Rennergebnisse

Jahr	Event	Datum	Ort	Distanz	Ergebnis	Startnr.	Manufacturer	Zeit	Notes
1902	Paris–Arras–Paris	15.–16. Mai	Paris-Arras	864,35 km	13	75	Gardener-Serpollet steamer	18:45:45 h	Subsequently named the VII Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.
	Gaillon Hillclimb	21. September	Rouen	1 km	1.		Gardener-Serpollet steamer	40,8 s
	Gaillon Hillclimb	12. Oktober	Rouen	1 km	1.		Gardener-Serpollet steamer	36 s
1903	Paris–Madrid	24. Mai	Paris–Bordeaux	552 km	17.	119	Gardener-Serpollet steamer	6:44:15,8 h	First steamer to reach Bordeaux, where race stopped by police Subsequently named the VIII Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. and Race of Death.
	Circuit des Ardennes	22. Juni	Bastogne	512 km	5.	26	Gardener-Serpollet steamer	6:31:03 h
1904	Namur-Citadelle Hillclimb	29. August	Namur	2,8 km	1.		Hotchkiss HH
	I Eliminatoires Françaises de la Coupe Internationale Gordon Bennett Cup	20. Mai	Forest of Argonne	532.79 km	5.	6	Gardener-Serpollet steamer	6:13:32 h	Did not Qualify for 1904 Gordon Bennett Cup
	III Circuit des Ardennes	25. Juli	Bastogne	591 km	5.	31	Hotchkiss HH	6:54:05 h	Fastest Lap: 1:09:44 (101.746 km/h) on lap 3
1905	II Eliminatoires Françaises de la Coupe Internationale Gordon Bennett Cup	16. Juni	Auvergne	549,45 km	7.	5	Hotchkiss HH	8:13:13,8 h	Did not Qualify for 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup Reg # 548 UU
	Circuit des Ardennes	7. August	Bastogne	591,255 km	3.	14	Panhard	6:22:56 h
1906	Targa Florio	6. Mai	Grande circuito delle Madonie	446 km	6.	2	Hotchkiss 35 hp		Riding mechanic - Madame Motann Le Blon
	IX Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France	26.–27. Juni	Le Mans	1,238 km	dnf	12A	Hotchkiss 35 hp		Wheel problem
	Vanderbilt Cup Elimination Race	22. September	Westbury Long Island New York	290 mi	2.	6	Thomas 115 hp	5:51:25 h	Riding mechanic - Marius Amiel.
	Vanderbilt Cup	6. Oktober	Westbury Long Island New York	290 mi	8.	1	Thomas 115 hp		Riding mechanic - Marius Amiel.
1907	Targa Florio		Grande circuito delle Madonie	446 km	20.	14C	De Luca-Daimler	9:31:32 h
	X Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France	2. Juni	Circuit de la Seine-Inférieure	477,48 mi	dnf	PL1	Panhard		Crash on lap 3

Weblinks

Commons: Hubert Le Blon – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

• http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/LWFWIW/focusLWFWIW.php?db2=LWF&db=ms&n=597
• Txintxua Films. Hubert Le Blon The last flight of Hubert Le Blon. The last moments in the life of a man who dreamed with dragonflies when he was a child and died being a pioneer of acrobatic flights.
• Amazon, Prints of Hubert le Blon, in his Gardner-Serpollet steam car, Nice, 1903. from Heritage-Images. Hubert le Blon, in his Gardner-Serpollet steam car, Nice, 1903. Gardner-Serpollet was a French manufacturer of steam-powered cars in the early 1900s. A print from La Vie au Grand Air, 18 November 1903. Hubert le Blon,Leon Serpollet,Unknown (creator), Nice Nice, Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur, France
• TeamDan, Early results database - 1901
• TeamDan, Early results database - 1903
• TeamDan, Early results database - 1908
• TeamDan, Early results database - 1909
• TeamDan, Early results database - 1910

Einzelnachweise

Kategorie:Geboren 1874 Kategorie:Gestorben 1910 Kategorie:Sportspeople from Paris Kategorie:French racing drivers Kategorie:Grand Prix drivers Kategorie:Aviation pioneers Kategorie:Aviation history of France Kategorie:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Spain Kategorie:French aviation record holders Kategorie:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1910