René Leduc (* 1907, St Père-en-Retz, + 1990) Aircraft

[Jemiba]

For the other René Leduc, who was born in St Père-en-Retz,
I could trace the following types :

- RL-1, 1928, low wing, single engined and tricycle undercarriage,
two aircraft built
- RL-2, no more infos, then "a short carreer"
- RL-12, powered glider with a AVA engine
- RL-16, high wing monoplane with a 50hp Zündapp engine, achieved
an altitude world record in 1949
- RL-19, 1952, two seat, side-by-side, single engined, low wing aircraft
- RL-20, 1953, racing aircraft, project only,
- RL-21, 1960, racing aircraft, one example built
- RL-24, 1970, very light aircraft, would have been called ULM nowadays.


Ok, folks, now it's up to you, there are big gaps in both lists .
Can the be filled ?

 

[hesham]

Great thanks to you mt dear Jemiba,

well done my dear well done,and for RL-8 I think it was light
aircraft,I will check.

 

[Jemiba]

"I think it was light aircraft"
... and probably of pre-war times.
And we are not alone with our embarrassing error to mix both René Leducs !
There is (or was) at least one web site, which stated, that "after the end of
official funding for his ram jet projects, René Leduc only designed light aircraft .."
And shown was the RL-21 ... ;D !

 

[hesham]

Wow,great info my dear Justo.

 

[c460]

For the other René Leduc, who was born in St Père-en-Retz,
I could trace the following types :

- RL-1, 1928, low wing, single engined and tricycle undercarriage,
two aircraft built
- RL-2, no more infos, then "a short carreer"
- RL-12, powered glider with a AVA engine
- RL-16, high wing monoplane with a 50hp Zündapp engine, achieved
an altitude world record in 1949
- RL-19, 1952, two seat, side-by-side, single engined, low wing aircraft
- RL-20, 1953, racing aircraft, project only,
- RL-21, 1960, racing aircraft, one example built
- RL-24, 1970, very light aircraft, would have been called ULM nowadays.

René Leduc wrote a very interesting autobiography, titled Vers les champs bleus du ciel.
In his book, he mentions the above type numbers and the RL-8. Other type numbers are not mentioned.

Some corrections and additions:
- The RL-1 had a conventional undercarriage and a Sandford 30 hp engine. Only one example was made, which crashed during the first take-off after it collided with an unnoticed stake in the grass field
- The RL-2, 1929, was built in Reims with an Anzani 45 hp. It was a low-wing monoplane, with two seats in tandem. It made only a few flights.
- The RL-8 was a two-seat lightplane, studied ca. 1930 for a company in Courbevoie. Construction was started but the company closed its doors before it was finished. (René Leduc does not give the name of the company.)

René Leduc passed away in 2010 1990. The RL-19 and RL-21 still exist and are preserved by the Aéroscope association in Nantes. The story of René Leduc and his aircraft is briefly related in their website:
http://aircollection.pagesperso-orange.fr/accueil_leduc.htm
Maybe they have some archives as well.

Adrien

PS to the moderators: Maybe the topic should be split between the two Leduc ?

 

[c460]

Thanks for the split. (Please note that the posts about the 015 should go with the ramjet Leducs.)

Here http://www.aerosteles.net/fiche.php?code=saint-pere-leduc it's mentioned,
that he passed away in 1990 already.

My mistake, he indeed passed away in 1990, I confused the dates. I'm fixing my previous message.
Adrien

 

[Jemiba]

Thank you Adrien !

 

[VictorXL188]

In regards to René Leduc from the Aviafrance website, I have the following models listed:

RL-12 - A single seat touring parasol format monoplane, which first flew 2/7/1939 and of which only one example was built.
RL-16 - Also a single seat parasol monoplane, but this model was used to achieve a class altitude level of 7788 metres on the 13th June 1949. The RL-16 had first flown on the 7th July 1947.
RL-19 - This was a two-seat side-by-side configuration, low wing monoplane for touring. First flight was on the 23rd June 1952. One example built.
RL-21 - Another record breaking aircraft the RL-21 flown by Raymond Davy broke the speed record for its class of low powered aircraft with a speed of 316 km/h on 13th October 1960. This record was increased to 334 km/h on the 12th July 1963, and further increased to 350 on the 21st December 1966. Like the RL-16, it featured wooden construction wings with a fuselage combining wood and metal materials.
RL-24 - Making its maiden flight in November 1975, the RL-24 was an ultra-Light aircraft. It was a single-seat with a parasol wing configuration and a pusher engine. Like the other RL designs just one example of the RL-24 was built.

I attach pictures of the aircraft with some from Avia france and others from alternative web sources..

 

[hesham]

From Ailes 16/4/1955,

here is a small Info about RL-20 Project.

 

[hesham]

Also from Ailes 5/11/1960,

the RL-20.

 

[richard B]

Here the RL 1 (1929) and the RL 2

Les Ailes : journal hebdomadaire de la locomotion aérienne / directeur, rédacteur en chef, Georges Houard | 1929-04-18 | Gallica

Nantes. René Leduc, casse-cou champion du monde d’altitude

Info Nantes Nantes René Leduc casse-cou champion du monde daltitude - Laviateur constructeur... Nantes

nantes.maville.com

And the story of Leduc :

Aviation magazine international : les ailes, l'air et l'espace | 1967-11-15 | Gallica

 

[Stargazer]

Two photos of René Leduc with his RL-16 that haven't been shared here before:

 

[PhR]

There were two René Leduc, father and son, who built light planes in the region of Nantes.

Here is my list for René Leduc (father):

Designation	Date	Category	Comments
RL-1	1928	Light single-seat low-wing plane	1st flight February 2nd, 1928 (Leduc) 1 Sanford Ruby, 30 hp engine 1 unit
RL-2	1931	Light two-seat low-wing plane	1st flight 1931 at Bétheny (Leduc) 1 Anzani 6A-4, 45 hp engine 1 unit, built in Reims
RL-8	1930	Two-seat light plane	1 unfinished unit for Altona-Aviation in Courbevoie
RL-12	1934	Single seat touring parasol plane	1st flight July 2nd, 1939 at Château-Bougon (Leduc) 1 AVA 4A-00, 27 hp engine 1 unit
RL-16	1947	Single seat touring parasol plane	1st flight July 7th, 1947 at Château-Bougon (Leduc) Altitude level record of 7788 m on the June 13th, 1949 1 Zündapp, 52 hp engine 1 unit (F-WCDT)
RL-19	1952	Two-seat, side-by-side, low wing plane	1st flight June 23rd, 1952 at Château-Bougon (Francheteau) 1 Hirth HM-60R, 80 hp engine, then replaced by 1 Continental, 90 hp engine 1 unit, built in Pornic by Charles Gasse (F-PAGT)
RL-20	1954	Racing aircraft	Single seat aircraft with retractable landing gear 1 Lycoming, 160 hp engine Project only
RL-20	1955	Single-seat, low wing plane	Single-seat derived from RL-19, lightened with reduced wing 1 30 hp engine Project only
RL-21	1954	Record-breaker low-wing light plane	1st flight August 1960 at Château-Bougon (Leduc) Redesigned from RL-20 racer project for new engine 1 SNECMA-Régnier 4L-00, 135 hp engine, then upgraded to 4L-08, 160 hp Speed record breaker: (Raymond Davy) 316 km/h on October 13th, 1960 334 km/h on July 12th, 1963 340 km/h June 14th, 1966 350 km/h on December 21st, 1966 1 unit (F-WJDT)

and for René Leduc son:

RL-24

1970

Light sport plane

1st flight November 1975 Single seat ultra-light aircraft (ULM) with parasol wing and pusher engine 1 Rectimo 4 AR 1200, 39 hp engine 1 unit (F-WXKL)

I attach an illustrated version of this list:

 

[Stargazer]

Here is my list for René Leduc (father):
I attach an illustrated version of this list:

Excellent, Philippe, thanks. Besides the engine types of RL-1 and -2 that were missing from my list, I'm also discovering the RL-8 project and the second RL-20 for the first time! May I add one small detail? The RL-24's registration was subsequently changed to F-PXKL.

 

[Retrofit]

Leduc RL-21 preserved at regional aviation museum "Espace Air Passion" near Angers, France.