In memoriam of Pierre DUDAL who passed away on June 15, 2020.

André ROUAYROUX made us the friendship to entrust to our site this wonderful tribute and this photo taken in Amsterdam in 1976.

Pierre Dudal has gone to a next step, as always, discreetly, simply.

At 21 years old at Air France, at 23 years old Instructor… all this is known and I leave it to aeronautical exegetes to bring the analyzes and comments specific to pilots, airline and test, and to his well-stocked professional career. I want to speak here of the man I knew, certainly tardely, but with whom a certain bond was built throughout our discussions.

We met regularly to talk about aviation, of course, but also about a lot of other subjects, depending on his mood and his wishes.

It must be admitted that his great curiosity and his appetite for discovery made the choices easy. I came out each time amazed by his talent for sharing his knowledge, with this detachment that belongs only to those who fully master the content.

And each time, I imagined the instructor Pierre Dudal in action. When he invited me aboard Concorde, it was always by chance from an exchange, from a sentence, that he delivered the information, the unexpected detail, necessary to have an even better subject.

In his Cannes office, how many exceptional flights have I made alongside him!

Over time, these conversations were enriched and it was with wonder that he rediscovered the information that was sometimes lacking in his memory.

And when I asked him if he was aware of having participated in the writing of one of the great pages of aeronautics; he looked at me in silence, with his deep blue eyes, before concluding: "... Do you think so?".

An Aviator has just taken off for a longer flight than the others.

It is up to us to honor the memory, to preserve his testimonies and the image he gave of this profession he cherished.

We sometimes want to applaud those who leave…

Photo DR

And our contribution in addition to discover :

Pierre DUDAL Test pilot in a few figures :

Within the framework of the CEV, he carried out a total of 147 flights on Concorde as follows :

First flight on board the 001 F-WTSS prototype on July 28, 1969 for the 36 test flight and :

8 demonstration flights
4 endurance flights
3 ferry flights
26 certification flights
1 reception flight, the Concorde F-WTSC

Between March 12, 1973 and May 15, 1975 on board the F-WTSA, he made 31 flights as follows :

19 test flights
5 demonstration flights
4 endurance flights
3 ferry flights

Pierre DUDAL Airline pilot at Air France :

Commander DUDAL carried out on Concorde 144 flights as follows :

4 test flights
2 demonstration flights
18 training flights
16 ferry flights
7 reception flights on Concordes F-BVFA, F-BTFC, F-BVFB and F-BVFD
31 special flights
7 presidential flights
53 regular flights
first 6 flights

January 21, 1976 first regular flight Paris CDG / Dakar / Rio de Janeiro aboard the F-BVFA

May 25, 1976 first regular flight Paris CDG / Washington aboard the F-BVFA

From 19 to 22 October 1977 on board the F-WTSB he made a round trip Toulouse / New York Kennedy for two demonstration flights preceding the regular flights.

November 22, 1977 first regular flight Paris CDG / New York Kennedy aboard the F-BVFD.

For more information on Pierre DUDAL's remarkable career and flights on Concorde, two essential books :

This autobiography of :

And this encyclopedia by Philippe BORENTIN.

Both books are available at the Delta Museum boutique.

On this photo, he is in the cockpit of our F-WTSA.

To finish this tribute Sébastien CHARLET unearthed us this very interesting photo of an evening on January 20, 1976 at the Musée Grévin which he has just acquired and for which the Concorde cockpit had been loaned by the British.