How did you meet each other?
Wilfried Dufaud: It was Saturday. I’m not kidding. I remember it because it had to be a weekend, during our leisure time. Jérémy and I met at a mutual friend’s home, in Villefranche-de-Panat (Aveyron), as part of the Replic’Air association. We are in 2012. Looking back, I tell myself that we had some strategies to meet: we are committed to aviation.
Jeremy Caussade: I chased Fabien Raison because I was looking for someone who could manage a digital model to help us build the plane we were reproducing. Through mutual friends, I met him. At that time, he was making World War II soldier pieces in his garage.
How was the story written then?
Wilfried Dufaud: The common interest in celebrating the centenary of the first flight of the G Morane-Saulnier type is established.
Jeremy Caussade: The concept was funny: we had nine months to rebuild this plane and get it flying. On September 22, 2013, he crossed 800 kilometers of water.
The first foundational step, in a way, before Aura Aero?
Wilfried Dufaud: We set ourselves a technical challenge and attended every stage of the project, with doses of adrenaline and satisfaction. This allowed us to realize that there was a team of about thirty people united around a project and a special trust between us around a not-so-old story. After the crossing, we wondered what we were going to do.
How was the idea of the electric plane born?
Jeremy Caussade: We met and listened to many former members of the Aéro-Club de France, which is a sponsor of Replic’Air. They said: “We can’t do anything in France anymore. We need a product in China. » However, the technical heritage of aeronautics was not known and was not appreciated. At the same time, we knew that there were two major turning points ahead of us. The first was an industrial revolution related to the issues of ecological transition and decarbonisation. And aeronautics didn’t move much. This left the door open to new entrants. The other version was digital. Which justifies the creation of a new company. Because it is easier to build than to transform. Once we put all these factors together, we told ourselves that what we did in the connection department was worth replicating within the framework of a business project.
“We’ve never been a startup. Our goal was to become a businessman, establish an SME and then ETI.”
The three of you worked as engineers at Airbus and Assystem, so were you familiar with the world of start-up companies?
Jeremy Caussade: We’ve never been a startup. Our goal was to become a businessman, establish an SME and then ETI. In which there were many things involved, it was rarely compatible with the spirit of young pioneers. From the beginning we were hosted by Airplane Painters who rented us an airplane hangar at Toulouse-Francazal airport. But the most attractive action was not creating a company in August 2018 but hiring the first employees the following year.
Wilfried Dufaud: We were surrounded by a network that believed in adventure. However, even though we had prepared the manufacturing file for the plane in advance, we had to convince them to invest in a non-existent plane and pay the salaries of the first workers.
Jeremy Caussade: We took out the oars. It is work but I have no bad memories of this time. And, I used a lot of the argument of the association, its foundation, its dynamic team. It was a good warm-up lap.
There was an accident on the Integral aircraft that resulted in the death of two pilots on April 12, 2022…
Jeremy Caussade: It is a very violent event. It was obvious that we were frustrated and we had to understand the reasons for this accident, to digest it. The next day, we decided to put the Integral R’s qualification level behind. But other matters had to take their course. With, at that time, the plane ERA (for Electric Regional Aircraft, hybrid electric plane with nineteen seats, editor’s note), the second prototype of Integral S (tricycle version) and the initial project Integral E (electric version) launched. And, at the same time, we could not pretend to believe, as an aircraft manufacturer, that this could not happen. However, we are still drawing conclusions from this accident. Every April 12, we organize “safety” days because we have to build positive things from this disaster.
Ideas collected by Audrey Sommazi – Photographer: Rémy Gabalda
On the pictures:
> In their production hangar on the runway of Toulouse-Francazal airport, technicians and engineers from the aircraft manufacturer Toulouse Aura aero work on assembling aircraft intended for training and aerobatics.
> Jérémy Caussade, CEO (left)
Wilfried Dufaud, general manager, responsible for certification and airworthiness at (centre)
Fabien Raison, director of operations (right) on their FAL assembly line in Toulouse Francazal.
Find this full interview in the latest Mook ToulÉco, available from your newsagent or to order on the ToulÉco store
Yes
2024-04-28 16:30:26
#Aura #Aéro #epic #air #heart #Toulouse #ToulÉco
