Léon Lemartin
Encyclopedia
Théodore Clovis Edmond Lemartin, known as Léon Lemartin (20 October 1883 Dunes, Tarn-et-Garonne
– 18 June 1911, Vincennes
) was a pioneer aviator
who set a world record on 3 February 1911 at Pau, France when he carried seven passengers in a Bleriot XIII Aerobus. He then took eight, eleven and thirteen passengers aloft the following month.
The son of a blacksmith, in 1902 he became a graduate Gadz'Art
, an engineer
of 'Arts and Crafts' of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
(ENSAM) - a prestigious university
(grande ecole) specialising in engineering. His aeronautic career included working with Gabriel Voisin
, the Seguin brothers
, Henri Farman, Ernest Archdeacon
and Louis Blériot
. He was present when Blériot made the historic first crossing of the English channel
in 1909.
On 24 May 1911, three weeks before his death, he reportedly surpassed the world speed record although it was never officially recognized. He achieved 128.418 kph over the 33 kilometres (20.5 mi) flight between Etampes
and Toury
in a Blériot using his own enhancements to the Gnome Omega
50 hp motor.
He died in a crash on 18 June 1911 during the Paris-London-Paris leg of Le Circuit Européen (Tour of Europe) air race. He was still within sight of the reportedly 'up to 1 million' spectators at the take-off in Vincennes
.
of Dunes
in the Department of Tarn-et-Garonne
in south west France. From the moment of his birth he was known as Léon, but his forenames (Théodore, Clovis, Edmond) honoured both his father and both of his grandfathers. When he graduated in 1902 and required authorisations to work he discovered a mistake on his birth certificate, that his family name of 'Le Martin' had been written 'Lemartin', but he decided that it was easier to adopt the 'new' spelling.
His father Edmond was a blacksmith
and farrier
(Fr. Maréchal-ferrant), and a member of the 'Compagnons du Tour de France
' (a French community of craftsmen and artisans). He was also the inventor of several 'furnaces maréchal', some of which were patented. Edmond believed strongly in both science and technology so Léon spent many hours working in the forge learning practical skills.
Once Lemartin achieved his 'school certificate' he was enrolled at the 'Ecole Pratique' d'Agen
'. He was a gifted and serious student who advanced quickly so that in October 1899, when he was just sixteen, he left his native Brulhois area and travelled almost 500 kilometres (310.7 mi) to enroll at the 'Institute of Arts et Métiers' in Aix-en-Provence
where he became a Gadz'Art
, the nickame given to the students and alumni of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
(ENSAM), a prestigious university (grande ecole) specialising in engineering. At the age of nineteen, in 1902, he became a qualified Gadz'Art, an engineer of 'Arts and Crafts' (Ingénieur des Arts et Métiers) and moved to Paris.
In December 1902 Lemartin met aviation enthusiast Louise Soriano, who had divorced the Comte Charles de Lambert
and married Ricardo Soriano von Hermansdorff Sholtz, Marquis de Ivanrey. Lemartin and Louise worked together during their joint airship project and subsequently married, upon which he adopted her daughter Jane (or Jeanne) de Lambert from her first marriage. Louise died in December 1907 and is buried in Dunes. Lemartin then married Madeleine, née Baas, and they had three children: Louise, Simone and Léone. Jane de Lambert also grew up in the family. After his death, Madeleine married his brother Albert and had two more children, Maurice and Roger.
, he began to build an airship in collaboration with the Spanish aristocrat, financier, engineer, inventor and adventurer Ricardo Soriano von Hermansdorff Sholtz. The project failed due to a fire, so Lemartin applied to the 'L'École Duvignau', but without success.
, based in Puteaux
Paris. He later moved to E.N.V. He later began to work for Gabriel
and Charles Voisin
on the structure of their early experimental glider, which in 1905 was towed along the river Seine for 600 metres (1,968.5 ft).
Lemartin was apparently not convinced by the Voisin approach and agreed with Louis Bleriot
that the engine was key to achieving powered heavier-than-air flight in a monoplane. Thus, he joined Société Des Moteurs Gnome
(the Gnome motor company founded by Louis and Laurent Seguin in 1905) where he worked on their 7-cylinder Gnome Omega
rotary engine
project, and became a key developer of the basic idea. The Omega set a benchmark with its delivery of 50 hp (37 kW) from 75 kilograms (165.3 lb). He also had a special role in the company whereby he was seconded to directly support the aviators who were using the Omega. He was thus key to many of the great milestones of aviation. Henry Farman
's first completion of a 1 miles (1.6 km) circuit, Léon Delagrange
's first passenger flight when he carried the great sponsor Ernest Archdeacon
, and Louis Bleriot's historic flight across the English Channel
.
At Gnome, he teamed up with Jules Védrines, another young engineer who went on to win the special consolation prize in the 1911 Daily Mail
Round-Britain Air race
and the overall prize in the Paris-Madrid Air race.
As senior customer engineer at Gnome, Lemartin worked on the engines for Alfred Leblanc
's Morane-Saulnier
aircraft at major air-meetings such as Reims, Nice, and Bordeaux. The Morane-Saulnier was built by Raymond Saulnier and the brothers Léon and Robert Morane and fitted with the Omega motor.
In the rapidly developing world of aviation in 1909 Bleriot needed a new achievement and money to establish his company, so the Daily Mail
prize of 25,000 F for the first pilot to cross the English Channel was immediately appealing. Bleriot completed the first crossing using a 25 hp Anzani
powered Bleriot XI
, but he subsequently asked Gnome and Lemartin to develop the 50 hp Omega for the production models of the Bleriot XI. On May 14, 1910, the Omega powered the Bleriot XI used by Jacques de Lesseps
, the son of Ferdinand de Lesseps
, for the second Channel crossing.
The Reims Week Airshow in August 1909 included pilots such as Bleriot, Curtiss, Delagrange, Farman, Lambert, Latham, Paulhan, Santos-Dumont, and the Wright brothers. Lemartin invented a system that significantly increased the speed of the Gnome Omega and thereby scooped four of the five major prizes. Louis Bleriot in the Blériot XII took the speed record (77 kph), the distance record (180 kilometres (111.8 mi)), duration (3 hours 15 minutes) and Henry Farman took two passengers in his Voisin.
's flying school to train as a pilot and work as an engineer. He qualified six weeks later on 4 October. His registration number was 249, and he was assigned to Bleriot's schools at Étampes
and Pau. His contract entitled him to 400 francs per month (circa €
1,100 Euro in 2006), 30 francs per flight (c. €80), and 32,500 francs (c. €87,000) to his widow in case of death.
On 3 February 1911, at Pau, he broke the world record by carrying seven passengers in a Bleriot XIII, surpassing Sommer's previous record of six. During March 1911, he went on to increase the record to eight, then eleven, and finally thirteen passengers, and including the aviators Jeanne Herveu (founder of the first flying school for women.), and Paul Wyss
(the Swiss
pilot who was training at the Bleriot school in Pau at the time.).
On 24 May 1911, three weeks before his death, he reportedly surpassed the world speed record, although it was never officially authorised. He achieved 128.418 km/h between Etampes
and Toury
in a Blériot using "his own" enhanced model of the Gnome 50 hp motor. (The official record of 125 kph was set by Leblanc on June 12 during qualifying for the Gordon Bennett Trophy.)
On 1 June 1911, he signed a new contract with Louis Bleriot, becoming a member of the race team to compete at major events and receive one third of any prizes won. The prospective prize for his first (fatal) competition would have been 450,000 francs (circa €1,200,000 Euro in 2006).
.
Le Circuit Européen (Tour of Europe) was his first competition. The night before his departure from Vincennes, he was working on the machines of his teammates Roland Garros; Lieutenant Jean Louis Conneau
(nicknamed André Beaumont) who went on to win both Le Circuit Européen and Paris-Rome; and 'Gilbert' the Lasseur de Ranzay. Thus the next morning, June 18, Lemartin was tired.
That morning, the weather was not good and Roland Garros, who was the first to start, had to scratch. He advised Lemartin against flying because "les ailes souples ne vont pas tenir!" ("the wings are too flexible and will not hold"), but Lemartin wanted to achieve his dream of racing before a million spectators.
According to the New York Times of 19 June 1911:
Soon after the crash, Madame Bleriot arrived at the site. Ernest Monis
the Prime Minister of France
, who was a spectator, sent his doctor, but Lemartin died on arrival at the hospital Saint-Antoine in Vincennes.
Despite his brief career, Lemartin is considered one the pioneers of French aviation. He was the 59th aviation pioneer to die.
Lemartin is buried at Dunes (Tarn-et-Garonne), where both a street and the airport (Piste Théodore Léon Lemartin) bear his name.44.108840°N 0.773500°W
His widow Madeleine, who received an insurance allocation of 32,500 francs, continued to raise his three children, Louise, Simone and Léone, plus Jane de Lambert. Madeleine subsequently married Léon's brother Albert and they had two more children, Maurice and Roger.
Lemartin's only grandson, Jacques Dalmon, wrote his grandfather's biography in 1994 (Lemartin, pilote-aviateur). He also published a new revision in 2009 in co-operation with Lemartin's great grandson, Olivier Dalmon (Léon Lemartin, Chef-Pilote de la Maison Blériot).
Dunes, Tarn-et-Garonne
Dunes is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-References:*...
– 18 June 1911, Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
) was a pioneer aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
who set a world record on 3 February 1911 at Pau, France when he carried seven passengers in a Bleriot XIII Aerobus. He then took eight, eleven and thirteen passengers aloft the following month.
The son of a blacksmith, in 1902 he became a graduate Gadz'Art
Gadzarts
Gadz'Arts or Gadzarts is the nickame given to the students and the alumni of École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers - a prestigious university specialised in engineering....
, an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
of 'Arts and Crafts' of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....
(ENSAM) - a prestigious university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
(grande ecole) specialising in engineering. His aeronautic career included working with Gabriel Voisin
Gabriel Voisin
Gabriel Voisin was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained , circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France...
, the Seguin brothers
Gnome et Rhône
Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensees, powering the majority of aircraft in the first half of the war on...
, Henri Farman, Ernest Archdeacon
Ernest Archdeacon
Ernest Archdeacon , was a prominent French lawyer of Irish descent who was associated with pioneering aviation in France before the First World War. He made his first balloon flight at the age of 20. He commissioned a copy of the 1902 Wright No. 3 glider but had only limited success...
and Louis Blériot
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
. He was present when Blériot made the historic first crossing of the English channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
in 1909.
On 24 May 1911, three weeks before his death, he reportedly surpassed the world speed record although it was never officially recognized. He achieved 128.418 kph over the 33 kilometres (20.5 mi) flight between Etampes
Étampes
Étampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
and Toury
Toury
Toury is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
in a Blériot using his own enhancements to the Gnome Omega
Gnome Omega
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6....
50 hp motor.
He died in a crash on 18 June 1911 during the Paris-London-Paris leg of Le Circuit Européen (Tour of Europe) air race. He was still within sight of the reportedly 'up to 1 million' spectators at the take-off in Vincennes
Vincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
.
Early life
Lemartin was born in the communeCommunes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Dunes
Dunes, Tarn-et-Garonne
Dunes is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France.-References:*...
in the Department of Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...
in south west France. From the moment of his birth he was known as Léon, but his forenames (Théodore, Clovis, Edmond) honoured both his father and both of his grandfathers. When he graduated in 1902 and required authorisations to work he discovered a mistake on his birth certificate, that his family name of 'Le Martin' had been written 'Lemartin', but he decided that it was easier to adopt the 'new' spelling.
His father Edmond was a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
and farrier
Farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves...
(Fr. Maréchal-ferrant), and a member of the 'Compagnons du Tour de France
Compagnons du Tour de France
The Compagnons du Tour de France are a French organization of craftsmen and artisans dating from the Middle Ages, but still active today. Their traditional, technical education techniques includes taking a tour, the Tour de France around France and being the apprentice of competent masters...
' (a French community of craftsmen and artisans). He was also the inventor of several 'furnaces maréchal', some of which were patented. Edmond believed strongly in both science and technology so Léon spent many hours working in the forge learning practical skills.
Once Lemartin achieved his 'school certificate' he was enrolled at the 'Ecole Pratique' d'Agen
Agen
Agen is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. It is the capital of the department.-Economy:The town has a higher level of unemployment than the national average...
'. He was a gifted and serious student who advanced quickly so that in October 1899, when he was just sixteen, he left his native Brulhois area and travelled almost 500 kilometres (310.7 mi) to enroll at the 'Institute of Arts et Métiers' in Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
where he became a Gadz'Art
Gadzarts
Gadz'Arts or Gadzarts is the nickame given to the students and the alumni of École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers - a prestigious university specialised in engineering....
, the nickame given to the students and alumni of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....
(ENSAM), a prestigious university (grande ecole) specialising in engineering. At the age of nineteen, in 1902, he became a qualified Gadz'Art, an engineer of 'Arts and Crafts' (Ingénieur des Arts et Métiers) and moved to Paris.
In December 1902 Lemartin met aviation enthusiast Louise Soriano, who had divorced the Comte Charles de Lambert
Charles de Lambert (aviator)
Charles, Count de Lambert, was an early European aviator.De Lambert was the first person in France to be taught to fly by Wilbur Wright. The first lesson took place at Le Mans on 28 October 1908...
and married Ricardo Soriano von Hermansdorff Sholtz, Marquis de Ivanrey. Lemartin and Louise worked together during their joint airship project and subsequently married, upon which he adopted her daughter Jane (or Jeanne) de Lambert from her first marriage. Louise died in December 1907 and is buried in Dunes. Lemartin then married Madeleine, née Baas, and they had three children: Louise, Simone and Léone. Jane de Lambert also grew up in the family. After his death, Madeleine married his brother Albert and had two more children, Maurice and Roger.
Airship project
Lemartin had an early interest in ballooning and, learning from Alberto Santos-DumontAlberto Santos-Dumont
Alberto Santos-Dumont , was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life....
, he began to build an airship in collaboration with the Spanish aristocrat, financier, engineer, inventor and adventurer Ricardo Soriano von Hermansdorff Sholtz. The project failed due to a fire, so Lemartin applied to the 'L'École Duvignau', but without success.
Gnome years
In the early 1900s, Lemartin started work at the automobile manufacturer CharronCharron (automobile)
-The company:Founded in 1901 by Ferdinand Charron, Leonce Girardot and Emile Voigt the company was originally called C.G.V and based in Puteaux, Seine. In 1905 it had capital of 2 franc million. Girardot resigned in 1906 and the company was reformed as Automobiles Charron ...
, based in Puteaux
Puteaux
Puteaux is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department from the center of Paris....
Paris. He later moved to E.N.V. He later began to work for Gabriel
Gabriel Voisin
Gabriel Voisin was an aviation pioneer and the creator of Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained , circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing. It was flown by Henry Farman on January 13, 1908 near Paris, France...
and Charles Voisin
Charles Voisin
Charles Voisin was an early aviation pioneer. He was the younger brother of Gabriel Voisin, also an aviation pionieer.-Biography:...
on the structure of their early experimental glider, which in 1905 was towed along the river Seine for 600 metres (1,968.5 ft).
Lemartin was apparently not convinced by the Voisin approach and agreed with Louis Bleriot
Louis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
that the engine was key to achieving powered heavier-than-air flight in a monoplane. Thus, he joined Société Des Moteurs Gnome
Gnome et Rhône
Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensees, powering the majority of aircraft in the first half of the war on...
(the Gnome motor company founded by Louis and Laurent Seguin in 1905) where he worked on their 7-cylinder Gnome Omega
Gnome Omega
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6....
rotary engine
Rotary engine
The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...
project, and became a key developer of the basic idea. The Omega set a benchmark with its delivery of 50 hp (37 kW) from 75 kilograms (165.3 lb). He also had a special role in the company whereby he was seconded to directly support the aviators who were using the Omega. He was thus key to many of the great milestones of aviation. Henry Farman
Henry Farman
Henri Farman Henri Farman Henri Farman (26 May 1874 – 17 July 1958 was a French pilot, aviator and aircraft designer and manufacturer with his brother Maurice Farman. His family was British and he took French nationality in 1937.-Biography:...
's first completion of a 1 miles (1.6 km) circuit, Léon Delagrange
Léon Delagrange
Léon Delagrange Léon Delagrange Léon Delagrange (Ferdinand Léon Delagrange; March 13, 1873 was a pioneer French aviator and also a sculptor .He was born at Orléans and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris...
's first passenger flight when he carried the great sponsor Ernest Archdeacon
Ernest Archdeacon
Ernest Archdeacon , was a prominent French lawyer of Irish descent who was associated with pioneering aviation in France before the First World War. He made his first balloon flight at the age of 20. He commissioned a copy of the 1902 Wright No. 3 glider but had only limited success...
, and Louis Bleriot's historic flight across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
At Gnome, he teamed up with Jules Védrines, another young engineer who went on to win the special consolation prize in the 1911 Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
Round-Britain Air race
Daily Mail aviation prizes
Between 1907 and 1925 the Daily Mail newspaper, initially on the initiative of its proprietor Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, awarded numerous prizes for achievements in aviation. The newspaper would stipulate the amount of a prize for the first aviators to perform a particular task in...
and the overall prize in the Paris-Madrid Air race.
As senior customer engineer at Gnome, Lemartin worked on the engines for Alfred Leblanc
Alfred LeBlanc
Alfred Leblanc was a pioneer French aviator.-Biography:He was born on April 13, 1869 in France. He was assistant to Louis Bleriot and handled the logistics for Bleriot on the morning of his cross channel flight July 25, 1909. In 1910 he set an cross-country flight airspeed record by flying 485...
's Morane-Saulnier
Morane-Saulnier
Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier is a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier and the Morane brothers, Leon and Robert...
aircraft at major air-meetings such as Reims, Nice, and Bordeaux. The Morane-Saulnier was built by Raymond Saulnier and the brothers Léon and Robert Morane and fitted with the Omega motor.
In the rapidly developing world of aviation in 1909 Bleriot needed a new achievement and money to establish his company, so the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
prize of 25,000 F for the first pilot to cross the English Channel was immediately appealing. Bleriot completed the first crossing using a 25 hp Anzani
Anzani
Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani , which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy.-Overview:...
powered Bleriot XI
Blériot XI
The Blériot XI is the aircraft in which, on 25 July 1909, Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel made in a heavier-than-air aircraft . This achievement is one of the most famous accomplishments of the early years of aviation, and not only won Blériot a lasting place in...
, but he subsequently asked Gnome and Lemartin to develop the 50 hp Omega for the production models of the Bleriot XI. On May 14, 1910, the Omega powered the Bleriot XI used by Jacques de Lesseps
Jacques de Lesseps
Jacques Benjamin de Lesseps was a French aviator born in Paris on 5 July 1883, killed in an air accident presumably on 18 October 1927 along with his flight engineer Theodor Chichenko. He was the son of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps...
, the son of Ferdinand de Lesseps
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Ferdinand Marie, Vicomte de Lesseps, GCSI was the French developer of the Suez Canal, which joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas in 1869, and substantially reduced sailing distances and times between the West and the East.He attempted to repeat this success with an effort to build a sea-level...
, for the second Channel crossing.
The Reims Week Airshow in August 1909 included pilots such as Bleriot, Curtiss, Delagrange, Farman, Lambert, Latham, Paulhan, Santos-Dumont, and the Wright brothers. Lemartin invented a system that significantly increased the speed of the Gnome Omega and thereby scooped four of the five major prizes. Louis Bleriot in the Blériot XII took the speed record (77 kph), the distance record (180 kilometres (111.8 mi)), duration (3 hours 15 minutes) and Henry Farman took two passengers in his Voisin.
Blériot years
On 20 August 1910, Lemartin signed a contract to join Louis BleriotLouis Blériot
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot was a French aviator, inventor and engineer. In 1909 he completed the first flight across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he crossed the English Channel. For this achievement, he received a prize of £1,000...
's flying school to train as a pilot and work as an engineer. He qualified six weeks later on 4 October. His registration number was 249, and he was assigned to Bleriot's schools at Étampes
Étampes
Étampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
and Pau. His contract entitled him to 400 francs per month (circa €
Euro sign
The euro sign is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the Eurozone in the European Union . The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. The international three-letter code for the euro is EUR...
1,100 Euro in 2006), 30 francs per flight (c. €80), and 32,500 francs (c. €87,000) to his widow in case of death.
On 3 February 1911, at Pau, he broke the world record by carrying seven passengers in a Bleriot XIII, surpassing Sommer's previous record of six. During March 1911, he went on to increase the record to eight, then eleven, and finally thirteen passengers, and including the aviators Jeanne Herveu (founder of the first flying school for women.), and Paul Wyss
Paul Wyss
Paul Wyss was a Swiss ice hockey player who competed in the 1952 Winter Olympics as a member of the Swiss ice hockey team.-External links:*...
(the Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
pilot who was training at the Bleriot school in Pau at the time.).
On 24 May 1911, three weeks before his death, he reportedly surpassed the world speed record, although it was never officially authorised. He achieved 128.418 km/h between Etampes
Étampes
Étampes is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the center of Paris . Étampes is a sub-prefecture of the Essonne department....
and Toury
Toury
Toury is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
in a Blériot using "his own" enhanced model of the Gnome 50 hp motor. (The official record of 125 kph was set by Leblanc on June 12 during qualifying for the Gordon Bennett Trophy.)
On 1 June 1911, he signed a new contract with Louis Bleriot, becoming a member of the race team to compete at major events and receive one third of any prizes won. The prospective prize for his first (fatal) competition would have been 450,000 francs (circa €1,200,000 Euro in 2006).
Death and commemoration
Lemartin died in a crash on 18 June 1911 during the Paris-London-Paris leg of Le Circuit Européen (Tour of Europe) air race. He was still within sight of the reportedly 'up to 1 million' spectators at the take-off in VincennesVincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
.
Le Circuit Européen (Tour of Europe) was his first competition. The night before his departure from Vincennes, he was working on the machines of his teammates Roland Garros; Lieutenant Jean Louis Conneau
Jean Louis Conneau
Jean Louis Conneau , better known under the pseudonym André Beaumont, was a pioneer French aviator, Naval Lieutenant and Flying boat manufacturer.-Flying career:...
(nicknamed André Beaumont) who went on to win both Le Circuit Européen and Paris-Rome; and 'Gilbert' the Lasseur de Ranzay. Thus the next morning, June 18, Lemartin was tired.
That morning, the weather was not good and Roland Garros, who was the first to start, had to scratch. He advised Lemartin against flying because "les ailes souples ne vont pas tenir!" ("the wings are too flexible and will not hold"), but Lemartin wanted to achieve his dream of racing before a million spectators.
According to the New York Times of 19 June 1911:
The wind was rising at the start of the contest, and Le Martin, who was one of the most experienced aviators in France, rocked about a good deal as his machine left the ground and swept across the field. His aeroplane had reached the woods, a quarter of a mile beyond the barriers, when it was observed to pitch swiftly downward and into the trees. Le Martin was using a biplane, which was broken badly as it fell at the foot of an oak tree. A corner of the motor struck Le Martin's head, crushing his skull, and his right leg was also broken in two places. The aviator was barely alive when he was taken away by Red Cross surgeons, whose stations surrounded the field. The crowds removed their hats as the wounded aviator was carried past, or as word passed among the people that he was dead. Le Martin was alive when he reached the hospital, but expired a few minutes afterwards.
Soon after the crash, Madame Bleriot arrived at the site. Ernest Monis
Ernest Monis
Antoine Emmanuel Ernest Monis was a French politician of the Third Republic, deputy of Gironde from 1885 to 1889 and then senator of the same department from 1891 to 1920...
the Prime Minister of France
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
, who was a spectator, sent his doctor, but Lemartin died on arrival at the hospital Saint-Antoine in Vincennes.
Despite his brief career, Lemartin is considered one the pioneers of French aviation. He was the 59th aviation pioneer to die.
Lemartin is buried at Dunes (Tarn-et-Garonne), where both a street and the airport (Piste Théodore Léon Lemartin) bear his name.44.108840°N 0.773500°W
His widow Madeleine, who received an insurance allocation of 32,500 francs, continued to raise his three children, Louise, Simone and Léone, plus Jane de Lambert. Madeleine subsequently married Léon's brother Albert and they had two more children, Maurice and Roger.
Lemartin's only grandson, Jacques Dalmon, wrote his grandfather's biography in 1994 (Lemartin, pilote-aviateur). He also published a new revision in 2009 in co-operation with Lemartin's great grandson, Olivier Dalmon (Léon Lemartin, Chef-Pilote de la Maison Blériot).
Other sources
- Jacques Dalmon, Lemartin, pilote-aviateur , Universud Editeur , 1994.
- Jacques & Olivier Dalmon, Lemartin, Chef-Pilote de la Maison Blériot , Universud Editeur, 2009.
- Presse Parisienne, Française et Internationale 1910-1911 : L'IllustrationL'IllustrationL'Illustration was a weekly French newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Edouard Charton; the first issue was published on March 4, 1843....
, Le Matin, L'Excelsior, l'Indépendant, La Vie au Grand Air...