Georges Abrial was an early French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 aerodynamicist

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...

. After graduating from the St Cyr Aeronautical Institute he worked for Levasseur

Pierre Levasseur (aircraft builder)

Pierre Levasseur was a French aircraft manufacturer. He produced aircraft for the French Navy.François Denhaut was the chief pilot of Pierre Levasseur's flying school...

 (Levasseur-Abrial A-1

Levasseur-Abrial A-1

The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 was a 1922 glider issued from the collaboration between French aircraft designers Pierre Levasseur and Georges Abrial that was destroyed on it's fourth take-off.-See also:* List of aircraft #Abrial...

) and did some pioneering work into tailless aircraft

Tailless aircraft

A tailless aircraft traditionally has all its horizontal control surfaces on its main wing surface. It has no horizontal stabilizer - either tailplane or canard foreplane . A 'tailless' type usually still has a vertical stabilising fin and control surface...

. He designed several gliders

Glider aircraft

Glider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can...

 during the 1920s before turning to lecturing the following decade, when he also became influential in the French soaring

Lift (soaring)

Gliding flight is heavier-than-air flight without the use of thrust. It is employed by gliding animals and by aircraft such as gliders. The most common human application of gliding flight is in sport and recreation using aircraft designed for this purpose...

 movement.

Abrial stopped designing new aircraft after 1932 when he abandoned his A-12 project. He was more attracted by instructorship and educational methods and played an important role in the development of soaring in France during the 1930s. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was still active in promoting soaring in France and in French Africa.

In 1954 he came back to the design of tailless aircraft, with the A-13 "Buse" project. But this glider was never built.

Aircraft designs

• Abrial A-2 Vautour  (1925) Single-seat sailplane
  Glider (sailplane)
  A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the sport of gliding. Some gliders, known as motor gliders are used for gliding and soaring as well, but have engines which can, in some cases, be used for take-off or for extending a flight...
  
  , 12.65 m wingspan
• Abrial A-3 Oricou  (1927) Single-engine single-seat powered touring aircraft
• Abrial A-12 Bagoas
  Abrial A-12 Bagoas
  |-References:*...
  
    (1931) Single-seat sailplane of extremely low wing aspect ratio
  Aspect ratio (wing)
  In aerodynamics, the aspect ratio of a wing is essentially the ratio of its length to its breadth . A high aspect ratio indicates long, narrow wings, whereas a low aspect ratio indicates short, stubby wings....
  
  . Not completed
• Abrial A-13 Buse
  Abrial A-13 Buse
  |-See also:...
  
  (1954) Proposed single-seat sailplane. Not completed