Commonly dubbed the 'flying letter-opener', Hurel-Dubois aircraft designs were best known for their high-aspect ratio wings. Jean-Christophe Carbonel takes an in-depth look at this short-lived French airframer
Development
Former naval pilot Maurice Hurel became one of French aviation’s great innovators
Maurice Hurel was born in Cherbourg during 1896. His father was a naval officer and this influenced his choice of career for, after gaining his baccalaureat, he entered the École Navale in 1914 and graduated top of the 1917 class. Assigned to the French Navy, he asked for a transfer to the naval air arm, the Aéronautique Navale, that year and received his pilot’s wings in 1918.
