PAUL KOECHLIN 1881-1916

Monoplan Koechlin, Moteur Grégoire Gyp, 35 chevaux Stabilisation commandée par le dossier du siège L'Ecole de cet appareil est à Mourmelon The pilot is Marthe Niel. Photo Courtesy of David Lam

ONLINE RESOURCES      If you search for "Paul Koechlin" using Google, you will find about 13 Links, only one of which is very useful. Les Koechlin dans l'aventure de l'automobile et de l'aviation vus par Marc Douëzy, journaliste scientifique, collaborateur du journal anglais "The Automobile" où il a publié ce texte en anglais      This website offers a comprehensive story of the whole Koechlin family, and has a section which treats specifically of Paul Koechlin and his activities in aviation. If you read French, you can access the site by clicking on the title above. If you need the English version, you can click on: Paul Koechlin - English Version      If you want to go directly to the story of the developments in early aviation, use your "FIND" function on " Paul Koechlin."

"Paul builds his own apparatuses" Paragraph excerpted from the article above as translated by Dave Lam      "But it seems that Paul Koechlin had a measure of success with his first airplane. It was a monoplane, powered by a GIP motor of 70 hp, and they say it was the first airplane of which the fuselage was constructed from varnished acajou wood. Paul Koechlin also carved his own propellors, from a piece of walnut. In April 1910 he opened a pilot training school at Mourmelon, a suburb to the west of Paris. For 2000 francs the student pilots could obtain their license-- but, it was well understood that breaks (of the wood of the airplane) would be at their expense. The last airplane conceived by Paul Koechlin was a strange biplane in which the pilot was lying flat between the two wings, and behind the motor and propellor. It is not certain that he ever flew, and that is why , perhaps, we did not see Paul Koechlin in the Air Force at the beginning of the first world war, but in a supply regiment. He was killed at the Somme in 1916. "

Le vol motorisé Motorized Flight      This website, which was suggested by David Lam, offers a wealth of material. On this page, which is only one of several major sections, you will find a very nice photograph of a Koechlin plane, as well as 15 other photographs of great historical interest.      If you read French, you can go directly to the page by clicking on the title above. If you need an English translation, you can copy the URL into the Babel Fish translation program. Babel Fish      I highly recommend that you go to the homepage of this site and take advantage of the many other really outstanding sections. You can access it by clicking on: L'AVIATION À HÉLICES DES ORIGENES À LA FIN DE LA SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE      If you read French, you can access the site directly by clicking on the title above. If you need a machine-translation into English, you will need to copy the URL and paste it into the Babel Fish program.      If you take that course, you will find that most of the text on the various pages will be translated, but not all of them. You may need to excercise a little ingenuity in order to navigate the site, but you will find that it is well worth the effort.

 

The Very Earliest Early Birds by ERNEST JONES Number 12 - M. DE PISCHOFF, France      After experimenting with gliders, Pischoff began construction of a power biplane. The main planes were curved in an arc laterally. Rudder and elevator aft on outriggers. An Anzani 25 h.p. air-cooled engine drove tractor screw.      December 5-6, 1907---First flights of some meters.      December 12, 1907---Flights of 50 and 100m. at Issy. On January 15, 1908, flights of 30, 40 and 80m.      He then joined with Koechlin and built a tractor monoplane with three pairs of wings tandem, stepped up toward the front to a closed fuselage. Dutheil-Chalmers 20 h.p. engine.      October 29, 1908---Flights with this machine commenced at Villacoublay, up to 500m.      The machine never became prominent nor did Pischoff attain fame as a pilot.

 

AVIATION SCHOOL      He ran a flying school at Porte Aviation in France, using Koechlin and Pischof aircraft, from 1 May 1909 to about August 1910, when he moved to Mourmelon for his new school. Biographical note from Dave Lam, 7-2-03

 

Paul Koechlin was killed in France in 1916   Editor's Note: If you have any information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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