Born in Lille in 1933, Hervé Leprince-Ringuet enrolled at the École de l’Air in 1952 and received his fighter pilot license in the spring of 1956.
Born in Lille in 1933, Hervé Leprince-Ringuet enrolled at the École de l’Air in 1952 (Dartois graduating class) and received his fighter pilot license in the spring of 1956. He was first assigned to the 2/12 squadron in Cambrai in the Mystère IV A before joining the Flight Test Center in Brétigny, where he flew various aircraft, including the SM B2, for which he conducted fire control tests.
After receiving his test pilot license from EPNER (French test pilot school) in 1959, he was offered a job at Dassault in 1961.
He was initially assigned to the Mirage IV and Mystère 20 before being put in charge of civil aircraft in Bordeaux following the death of René Bigand. He thus had the privilege of being the first pilot to test and demonstrate the Falcon 20F, the Hirondelle, the Falcon 10, the Falcon 50, and the Falcon 900.
Hervé Leprince-Ringuet established several world records, including the speed record in a closed circuit with the Falcon 10 no. 01 on June 1, 1971, and the speed record by category on the Teterboro-Le Bourget route with the Falcon 50 no. 401 on October 9, 1977.
He flew on all of Dassault’s military aircraft up to the Mirage 2000.
He was a Chevalier in both the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit and was also awarded an Aeronautical Medal.
Hervé Leprince-Ringuet passed away on September 3, 2016 at the age of 83.
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