André Dubonnet

Who was André Dubonnet?

André Dubonnet was a French flying ace, athlete, racecar driver, and inventor.

Dubonnet was the son of Joseph Dubonnet, founder of the Dubonnet apéritif firm, from which he inherited substantial wealth.

He was credited with six aerial victories as a pilot during World War I. He began military service as an artilleryman, but switched to aviation. Flying a SPAD XIII, he shared two out of his three May 1918 victories with Frank Baylies, teamed up with Fernand Chavannes to destroy an observation balloon on 13 June, and split a pair of wins on 16 August 1918, with Joseph de Sevin and Captain Battle.

During the 1920s, Dubonnet competed in Olympic bobsledding as well as racing cars for Bugatti and Hispano-Suiza. He later spent much of his fortune developing inventions. He successfully sold an automobile suspension system to General Motors, but nearly went bankrupt late in life while working on solar energy. He also developed several aerodynamic studies and commissioned some special aerodynamic cars to be built for him.

Dubonnet became a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in January 1936.

He returned to service during World War II, serving in GCI/2.