Jean Boulet (16 November 1920, Brunoy – 13 February 2011, Aix-en-Provence) was a French aviator. In 1957, Boulet was awarded the Aeronautical Medal; in 1983, he became one of the founding members of the French National Air and Space Academy. He died at the age of 90.
Early life He was born on 16 November 1920 in Brunoy, near Paris. Jean Boulet was a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, which he entered in 1940. He was first hired in 1947 by the SNCASE, which would become Sud Aviation and then later the helicopter division of Aérospatiale.
Career Jean was trained in the United States earlier in his life to become a military pilot with the French Air Force, he was one of the first foreign pilots to fly a helicopter in the United States Air Force. Over the years he would become one of the greatest pioneers in the history of rotorcraft flight testing.
Aviation records Boulet set several rotorcraft records"FAI Record ID #749 - Time to climb to a height of 9 000 m. Class E-1b (Helicopters: take off weight 500 to 1000 kg) " Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 21 September 2014.. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved 3 November 2010. for distance,"FAI Record ID #977 - Distance over a closed circuit without landing. Class E-1 (Helicopters), piston " FAI Record ID #982 - subclass Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 21 September 2014. altitude"FAI Record ID #9876 - Altitude without payload. Class E-1 (Helicopters), turbine " Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 21 September 2014."FAI Record ID #9874 - Altitude without payload. Class E-1 (Helicopters), turbine " Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 21 September 2014. and speed."" Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 21 September 2014.
On 21 June 1972, Boulet set the world record (still valid "FAI Record ID #754 - Altitude without payload. Class E-1 (Helicopters), turbine " FAI Record ID #753 - subclass Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Retrieved: 21 September 2014.) for the highest altitude reached by a helicopter, when he piloted an Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama to an altitude of . When he reduced power and began to descend, because of the extreme cold, the engine flamed out, and Boulet performed the highest ever full touch down autorotation, landing with absolutely no power. This high altitude autorotation also set a new world record. Because of his unpowered flight back to the ground, he is also credited with the largest altitude flown with an autogyro.
Publications L'Histoire de L'hélicoptère, Racontée Par Ses Pionniers, 1907-1956 (Editions France-Empire, 1982) History Of The Helicopter: As Told By Its Pioneers, 1907-1956, Claude Dawson (translator) (Editions France-Empire, 1984)
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