Pierre Levasseur (aircraft builder)

Pierre Levasseur was a French aircraft designer, who through his company Sociéte Pierre Levasseur Aéronautique, produced aircraft for the French Navy in the early 1900s and ran a flying school. The chief pilot of his school was François Denhaut (1877–1952), notable for designing the first flying boat. Georges Abrial (1898 – ?), an early French aerodynamicist, also worked with Levasseur to produce the Levasseur-Abrial A-1.

Sociéte Pierre Levasseur Aéronautique

Models created included:

• Levasseur-Abrial A-1, 1922 glider
• Levasseur PL.2, Naval torpedo-bomber biplane
• Levasseur PL.4, carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft
• Levasseur PL.5, carrier-based fighter
• Levasseur PL.6, 1926 2-seat fighter aircraft
• Levasseur PL.7, torpedo bomber
• Levasseur PL.8, special model created for the Orteig Prize (see The White Bird)
• Levasseur PL.10, carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft
• Levasseur PL.14, 1920s torpedo bomber seaplane
• Levasseur PL.15, 1930s torpedo bomber seaplane

A famous aircraft produced by the company was The White Bird (L'Oiseau Blanc), a Levasseur PL.8 biplane which disappeared in 1927 during an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight between Paris and New York.