In memoriam Roger Béteille

It is with sadness and nostalgia that we learned of the passing of Roger Béteille, “twice” member (Founder and Honorary member) of our Academy, on 14 June 2019.

Born on 28 August 1921 in Vors (Aveyron), Roger Béteille entered Polytechnique in 1940, choosing the Aeronautics Engineers corps; after Supaero, he was seconded to SNCASE in Toulouse and participated as an engineer and navigator in tests on the Armagnac and Caravelle programmes. In 1957, he was appointed director of studies of the spacecraft division of Sud-Aviation in Cannes.

1967 marked his entry into the Airbus cooperation: initially director of programme at Sud-aviation, he joined the joint venture Airbus Industrie as technical director then general manager (1969-1985) and finally managing director in 1985 before retiring. Regarded as the father of Airbus, he was recognised as an “Airbus Pioneer” at the Airbus Heritage ceremony organised by EADS in Toulouse on 31 January 2001.

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