Famous French Pilots

Louis Blériot was a French aviator, engineer, and inventor. He is credited with developing the first workable headlamp for cars. He is also credited with making the first working, piloted monoplane. Blériot achieved worldwide fame in 1909 when he became the first person to fly across the English Channel. Louis Blériot also founded the successful aircraft manufacturing company, Blériot Aéronautique.

One of the best-known French fighter pilots of World War I, Georges Guynemer reportedly shot 54 enemy planes. Awarded with honors such as the Légion d'honneur and the Médaille militaire, he was a national hero. He went MIA and was later declared dead after he failed to return from a combat mission in 1917.

French aviator René Fonck is remembered for shooting down 75 planes during World War I and was considered one of the Allied Ace of Aces. He not only received the Médaille Militaire but was also made Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur. He later became a demonstration and racing pilot and a military aviation inspector.

Retired French naval commando Olivier Gruner has been a kickboxing world champion before appearing in several films and series as an “action hero.” Mostly known for his sci-fi and martial arts films, such as Velocity Trap and Crackerjack 3, he has also appeared in series such as Code Name: Eternity.

French Air Force brigadier general and astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien became the first western European to go into space. Starting his career as a fighter pilot, he later joined 2 Franco-Soviet space missions and then flew on a NASA Space Shuttle. His space career was ended by an accident at a Home Depot store.