Tribute to Gabriel Voisin and unpublished text "Radotages" — Ingénieurs et Techniciens, January 1974

In this document

Tribute by A.-J. Maurin to Gabriel Voisin (p. 28)

The clipping from the magazine Ingénieurs et Techniciens (no. 282, January 1974) opens with a tribute signed by A. J. Maurin, paid to Gabriel Voisin, who died in December 1973 ("February 1880 - December 1973").

The author traces the pioneer's career: first closed-circuit flight completed on 13 January 1908, automotive records (206 km/h, 182 km/h over 24 hours in 1927), production of "10,400 aircraft during the 1914 war" and "77,000 cars, all handmade" p. 28.

Maurin mentions a personal relationship with Voisin, born "over clutches," and cites a confidence from Voisin regarding the placement of his aircraft's elevators, explaining its self-stability. He also mentions the 1948 "biscooter," adopted by Spain, and an unpublished article written by Voisin in 1965, never before published, which the magazine finally reproduces "as a tribute to its author" p. 28.

Annotated photograph (p. 29)

A photograph of an aircraft, annotated by Voisin himself, bears the handwritten notes "10,400 units - 1912 - 1918," "36 years," and "44 years" — the time, the caption specifies, it took for two of Voisin's innovations (landing brakes on wheels, steerable landing gear) to become aviation standards p. 29.

"Radotages" — unpublished text by Gabriel Voisin (p. 29-30)

Under this handwritten title, Voisin, at 86, delivers a text on the difficulty of selling an invention. He recalls that in 1908, Voisin aircraft, the only ones capable of completing a circle, were in high demand — until the competition caught up with this expertise p. 29.

He recounts that at the armistice of 11 November 1918, he abandoned aviation for the automobile and produced a model travelling at 140 km/h "with possible suspension and absolute safety," without resorting to credit or advertising p. 29.

He then develops a thesis according to which "speed in the automotive trade is indeed the argument par excellence for an easy sale" p. 30, illustrated by the example of the Caravelle of his friend Héreil, then by a historical and deliberately provocative demonstration on the speed of transport: from the 17th-century traveller taking a year to go to America, to the Orly-New York round-trip flight of October 1965, including Pope Paul VI's flight to the UN the same year p. 30. He finally mentions the first flight of Ader on 9 October 1890, and regrets the era when "great houses bore the name of their creator: Renault, Delage, Bugatti, Berliet" p. 30.

Context

Gabriel Voisin (1880-1973) is indeed a major figure of nascent aviation and then of the French luxury automobile of the interwar period; these general, well-known biographical elements are not called into question by the document but pre-exist it.

A.-J. Maurin, an automotive journalist who held a column in Ingénieurs et Techniciens, was in long-term contact with Voisin, which explains the personal tone of the tribute.

The context of the 1973-1974 oil crisis, mentioned by Maurin himself regarding the "biscooter," sheds light on the relevance of this republication: an economical automotive formula becomes relevant again.

Archivist's perspective

This piece is not a working document of Paul Magès, but a press clipping that was sent to him — the handwritten annotation "Mr Morgès" and the stamp of the Centre Technique / B.E.A. Documentation attest to this p. 28. It testifies to the internal distribution network of Citroën Documentation, which circulated texts deemed worthy of interest to engineers, beyond just technical matters.

The choice to keep this text is probably explained by its resonance with Magès's own concerns: speed, safety, and kinetic energy are themes he works on elsewhere in his own notes, as shown by his calculation notes on safety distances or his pedagogical reflection on passive safety.

Voisin's text, although written in 1965 and republished almost ten years later, retains a striking topicality in the midst of the oil crisis: it seems that it was precisely this renewed relevance that motivated its distribution to Magès in January 1974.