MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

 

 

Safran: in search of the White Bird

 

Paris, December 15, 2011

 

 

Safran has signed a two-yearpartnership agreement with the association La Recherche de

l'Oiseau Blanc ("In Search of the White Bird"). It will be participating in search operations off

the coast of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, to find the wreckage of the OiseauBlanc (White Bird),

the legendary plane flown by French pilots Charles Nungesser and François Coli, that may

have crossed the Atlantic 12 days before Lindbergh in 1927.

 

The association has made considerable progress over the last four years, but now needs

further financial and technical resourcesto provide incontrovertible proof that the French

crew was indeed the first to have flown across the Atlantic non-stop.

 

Safran will be helping the association on its fourth search campaign to find the Lorraine-

Dietrich engine that powered the White Bird and is one of the cornerstones of Safran's

heritage*. The association will be directing a team of divers and engineers off the coast of

Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon to carry out a new series of searches.

 

Safran Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Herteman said: "Asa French aircraftengine maker,

and because of our historical ties with Lorraine-Dietrich, we felt it was our duty to participate

in the search for the White Bird. The Lorraine-Dietrich was an exceptional engine, offering

unrivaled performance at the time**.By looking for the aircraft's engine, Safran is in fact

seeking to find a piece of our own history."

 

"I'm very proud that a company like Safran is working with our association on a project that I

consider a key to our shared history," added Bernard Decré, president of the association "In

Search of the White Bird". "Our partnership with Safranis not only financial, but reflects a

real team approachto solving an 84-year old mystery, one that could change the history of

aviation."

 

A Lorraine-Dietrich engine currently stored at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum should

shortly be transferred to the collection of the Safran Aerospace Museum in Villaroche, near

Paris.

 

* The companyLorraine-Dietrich was founded in 1871. It built automobiles and rolling stock, then

heavy machinery and aircraft engines.It was acquired by Gnome & Rhône in 1941. In 1945, Gnome &

Rhône was nationalized, along with other French engine-makers reaching back to the dawn of aviation,

and renamed Snecma. Snecma merged with Sagem in 2005, creating the Safran group.

 

 

 

** Lorraine-Dietrich aircraft engines: selected achievements from 1927 to 1930

1927

- First crossingof the South Atlantic (on a nightflight) by a twin-engine seaplane, pilotedby

Portuguese captain Sarmiento de Beires, during his exploration of South America.

- Pilots Challe and Rapin fly from Paris to Saigon (12,000 km) in nine days.

1928

- Lieutenant Lassalleand Warrant OfficerDuroyon fly a Potez airplane14,000 kilometers in five

days, on round trips between Paris-Oslo, Paris-Madrid,Paris-Warsaw, Paris-Rome and Paris-

Lisbon.

1929

- Pilots Paillard, Le Brix and Jousse fly from Paris to Calcutta (11,000 km) in five days.

- Three Dutch navy twin-engine Dornier seaplanes fly from the Netherlands to Indonesia (16,000

km), making the first air crossing of the Indian Ocean (1,620 km).

- The CAMS 37 seaplane mail carrier makes eight trips from the Ile de France oceanliner to the

American and French coasts, saving up to 48 hours in mail distribution.

1930

- Potez airplanesmake round-trip weekly mail runs between Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile

(1,200 km), each time crossing the Andes mountainchain at an altitude of over 16,000 feet, under

very difficult conditions: -50° temperature, snow storms, violent wind gusts, etc.

Safran is a leadinginternational high-technology group with three core businesses: Aerospace

(propulsion and equipment), Defence and Security.Operating worldwide, the Safran group has more

than 54,000 employeesand generated sales of 10.8 billion eurosin 2010. Workingalone or in

partnership, Safran holds world or European leadership positions in its core markets.The Group

invests heavily in Research & Development to meet the requirements of changing markets,including

expenditures of 1.2 billion euros in 2010. Safran is listed on NYSE EuronextParis and its share is part

of the CAC 40.

 

For more information,www.safran-group.com

Follow @SAFRAN on Twitter

 

 

 

Just before leaving Saint Pierre, we have found a document, published in the Parish bulletin in May-June 1927, which mentions that the noise of an aircraft engine might have been heard at Swift Current, "in the mountain", at 13 km West of Saint Pierre, near the Hermitage Bay. New evidence!

  

We find new clues every day, and we were really happy that Frederic Mitterrand, French Minister of Culture, came to meet us in Saint Pierre during his official visit on July 27th. He insisted on the importance of our research for the islands, and asked many precisions about our works. Every one told him about our seriousness and focus.  

 

 

Pierre Lenormand and I are in Saint Pierre for about 10 days, in order to prepare the next session of research. The weather does not help: Continuous fog since the beginning of May.  

We are investigating a new area, with local fishermen, where we could find the engine: a little more west than the passed two years, that is to say between "Les Grapins" and the "Savoyard" buoy. This is because the discovery of a document in Aix En Provence archives one and a half month ago shows that the coast guards had put a buoy with a red flag in this zone, certainly not to fish lobsters or impression the bootleggers. This flag was a mark for the Oiseau Blanc wreck!  

We also have written to the President of the Territorial Council to ask permission to search the local Museum archives where we could very well find a piece of the aircraft.

Last but not least: Frederic Mitterrand, French Minister of Culture, is coming to Saint Pierre on July 27th. We do hope he will spend some time with us!

Recent official contacts

  

• I had a meeting in December at L'Elysee, with the President's counselors who are following our research. In January, Mr Jacques Gérault, cabinet director of our Defence Ministry came to our conference at the Aero-Club de France, and this was followed on March 9th with a meeting with our Aviation & Navy Chiefs of Staff. and in March I went to the Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) .
• I also met the 12 members of the historical commission of the Aero-Club de France, very competent aerospace historians.   
• The CNES are interested to work with us during our next campaign, at the end of August, using an ATL2 aircraft. 

2011 programme 

The next expedition is scheduled at the end of August, and will last three weeks. As said, the CNES will send a team with an ATL2 aircraft to search a 25 km2 zone. 

• Our usual team will also work with a sonar and magnetometer, with both the Zephyr and Fulmar. 
• The Coast Guards should be able to find in their Norfolk warehouse the pieces of the wings, found by fishermen in 1927. We are also investigating on a piece of wreck found in 1962 around Portland.
• In the Air & Space Museaum in Paris, there is a trunk, which we need to find, because it contains pieces of aluminium sent by the French Embassy in Washington in 1961.
• We thank all authorities for their precious help, and work to get founds that will enable us to pursue our search. Thanks All!

Bernard Decre