History of Kartveli and Thiebolt - Aviation Pioneers

KARTVELI & THIEBLOT: THE EARLY YEARS . Otr'A REMARKABLE ASSOC]ATION (Photo)

Photo Captioa: Kartveli (center) and Record-Breaking Monoplane Racer Photo

Credit: Armand J. Thieblot Collection

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In the rrrid 1920s, two young aeronautical engineers

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destined. to achieve

greatness in the years ahead - were hard. at lryork,on the developmeat of racing

aircraft

aad c.abin transports

for the Soci6t5-Industrielle des Metaux et d.u Bois,

a Paris-b.ased aviation firrn. The two men were Alexander l(artveli and Armand

Thieblot, both of w"hom later became chief engiaeers of Fairchild cornpanies.

Kartveli, soa of a magistrate in the Georgian city of Tiflis, had served as arx

arlillery officer

i,a the

beea sent ta Fr?t,sg

in

arny of His knperial HighnessiNichola" II 19

19

and. had

io continue his military €d.ucation. With the take-

over of his native Georgia by the forces of the revolution, Kartveli d,ecided. to remain i-r Pari,s. There he enrolled in both LlSsgle- Supe:ii.euie-a6ronarlt-iqgg

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Armand Thieblot, borrr in paris, had

studied. rnatlematics at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) and worked for

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almost a y€ar,at f;pSiFf.{ -gFn€r+S aptiqug, a firm specialiairg l

aad marrufacture of .gptical

,:

d

d:e delicu

i:lstruments, After a lfear, of cornpu.t ory military ,]

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training'in tle a.ir service of tJre French army, Thieblot elected.lto pursue an ae

ro:ra*fical eaginee

later joirred him. .

l

4Jxg

career at SociSt6 Ind.ustrielle arrd there Kartveli

speed of. 473.28 kph (?94.38 mph) at Ctevetand,, Ohio.

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-3After the outstanding success of the monoplane racers, Kartveli,, Thieblot -._--.:aad' Chagniard were involved, in the design of the B;;# cabin rnonopl.ane.

But much of their tlinking - and, drearning - revolved about the feasibility

of transatlantic air travel. This was not rrlere vi.sionary speculation; the

trio

soonr

set about specifically defining the aircraft they had in mind. In their

off-d'uty hours they:corirnitted to paper a design cornpletely tiarelated to their

projects at qoci6l{-d-e.s+:igns Be.rlar4;'the new narne which t}re f,.irrn,acquired, ' ' . ,.:i:. ..::, ,i -r-

it lgz7.

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Their transatlantic transport was a six-engine, all-metal, land rnonoplane weighing sonle 100,000 pounds with the capability of carrying 50-50 passengers non- stop

from Faris to New york. By the tirne Lindbergh and his Spirit of

St. Louis had touched down at Le Bourgeton May 21, 1927, ihey had cornpleted their aerodynarnic calculatious and stress analyses, finalized the structural design

aft tested a model in the wrnd trrnnel.

Two weeks

later, Clarence

Chamberlin, $rith Charles A. Levine as passenger, landed the Bellanca Columbia at Eisleben, Gerrnany, after a record-breaking,

39ll-mile, non-stop Ilight

from Roosevelt Fiula. The possibility of transatlantic passenger servlce sud'dealy seemed incredibly less remote to the three young designers; but the I

enoEnous impact which this latter flight worrld ha-ve on their personal careers, understaJxdably,

still

eluded

them. (To Be continued)

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