Pierre-Georges Latécoère
Pierre-Georges Latécoère (25 August 1883 Bagnères-de-Bigorre – 10 August 1943 Paris) was a French aeronautical engineer and entrepreneur. In 1919 he founded one of the earliest French commercial aviation companies, Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Aéronautiques, which later evolved into Compagnie Générale Aéropostale.[1]
Biography
Pierre-Georges Latécoère was the son of Jeanne-Marie Pujol and Gabriel Latécoère, owner of the Latécoère workshops in Bagnères-de-Bigorre specialising in carpentry and general mechanics. After graduating from École centrale Paris, he joined the family business, supplying materials to the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Midi railway company.
During World War I, he served in the artillery due to eye problems. In 1917 he established Forges et Ateliers de Construction Latécoère in Toulouse-Montaudron. After the experimental two-seat fighter Latécoère 1 failed to succeed in 1918, the company built the Salmson 2 reconnaissance biplane under licence.
In 1919 the Laté 3 mail plane appeared, followed by two examples of the Laté 4, a tri-motor transport biplane carrying up to ten passengers. In 1922 the business was renamed Société Industrielle d'Aviation Latécoère.
Encouraged by the factory’s success, in 1918 Latécoère launched Société des Lignes Latécoère to operate an air route between Toulouse and Casablanca. Despite regional opposition, the service began in 1919 under the banner Compagnie Générale d'Entreprises Aéronautiques. By 1924 the route extended to Dakar, and in 1930 it reached South America, including pioneering flights across the Andes.
Latécoère was appointed Commander of the Legion of Honour on 23 August 1925, having been made Chevalier on 30 September 1920 and Officier on 20 September 1923. Political challenges later forced him to cede his airline, which became Compagnie Générale Aéropostale.
In the 1930s he shifted to building large seaplanes such as the Latécoère 521 and Latécoère 631, used by Air France from 1947 on routes between Biscarosse and Fort-de-France. His company survives today as Groupe Latécoère.
See also
- Groupe Latécoère
- Raid Latécoère-Aéropostale
References
External links
- https://web.archive.org/web/20140713100301/http://www.memoire-aeropostale.com/index.php?pg=figuras-latecoere&lang=sp Memoria de Aeropostal
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Vol de nuit
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070914140844/http://www.latecoere.com/accueil.htm Official Latécoère website