Tribute to Jean-François GEORGES, Sup'Aéro 1964

Jean-François GEORGES, former General Manager of civil aircraft, passed away on May 11. He was 83 years old.

Born in Lyon in 1940, Jean-François GEORGES is a civil aeronautical engineer and graduated from Sup'Aéro in 1964.

In 1966, as a flight test engineer at Villaroche, he took part in the development of the Mystère 20 and the MD-320 Hirondelle.

In 1971, he joined the Technical Department at Saint-Cloud, where he was in charge of cockpit design for the Mercure transport aircraft, followed by certification of its flight controls and Category III all-weather landing system; he was also responsible for all general aspects of this aircraft. He also worked on the Mystère 20-401 variable-feature aircraft program. Then, in the Weapons Systems Department, he was in charge of Mirage 2000N field monitoring, the creation of the OASIS simulation center, and man-machine interfaces, in particular the Rafale cockpit via the Crew Workstation Organization model.

He took part in the early stages of the Hermès European spaceplane program, before being given responsibility, in 1988, for developing the design quality business. In 1990, he was appointed Director of Design Quality and, until mid-1991, Acting General Manager of Total Quality.

He then joined the Civil Aircraft Division, where he was appointed head in April 1992. At the same time, he became Managing Director of Dassault Falcon Jet and Managing Director of Dassault Falcon Service. He developed a global organization for the Falcon business, strengthening support, improving customer relations and boosting sales. He is also one of the fathers of the Falcon 7X. He retired in 2003.

A seasoned engineer and mathematician, airplane and helicopter pilot, saxophonist and orchestra conductor, mountaineer and photographer, traveler and refined epicurean, he practiced everything he was passionate about with talent and humor. Officer in the National Order of Merit, author of the book "Ingénieur et fier de l'être", Jean François GEORGES was President of the Aéro-Club de France for eight years, President of the 3AF Business Aviation Commission and President of the Ailes de la Ville social integration association.

His professional skills, his many gifts and his luminous personality were unanimously appreciated. His death leaves a great void in the French aeronautical community.

Source : Dassault Aviation