Pierre Mauboussin was a French aircraft designer, active in the 1920s and all the way through to the post-war years.

Although the brand name was dropped after the business went through a number of mergers and acquisitions (Mauboussin remained a name in jewellery, though, his family’s other business!), its memory has remained alive, to the point that French aviation entrepreneur David Gallezot has chosen it for his new aircraft-making venture.

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The Avions Mauboussin of today draws from this historical name to develop a family of hybrid (both battery and hydrogen-powered) aircraft for the general aviation and regional air transport market. We are still at least a couple of years away from the first flight of the Alérion, the first of these aircraft, but had the opportunity to talk with David about his project and his vision for the future of aviation.

Just as 100 years ago a whole crop of entrepreneurs and visionaries were busy redefining how people travel and move around, the new generation of hybrid, electric and hydrogen powered aircraft with STOL capabilities may well do the same for the people of this century, opening new air transport opportunities that we are just starting to envisage.

In this episode we talk about this and about the past as well, about the rich history and heritage of the French aerospace industry and how a first hand encounter at an aeronautical museum sparked in David the idea to re-launch this iconic French aircraft brand.

Without further ado, here is this week’s episode with David Gallezot, founder of Avions Mauboussin: