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August 2021
On August 30, 1991, 30 years ago, Captain Joseph Robin made his last Atlantic crossing piloting a Concorde. This will be the point of honor of a particularly fulfilling and brilliant aviation career...…
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In 1948, at just 17 years old, when he accompanied a friend who wanted to start a career in the Army and waited in the hallway of the recruiting center, an officer asked him: "And you, that how about becoming a pilot? " Joseph signs up, without really believing it, the idea is too good ! A few months later, the contract with the Air Force was signed for 5 years..
The training aircraft is the Stampe SV-4. Then, as he is one of the best pilot, he flies on North American T-6, Morane-Saulnier 472 and 475 Vanneau and finally the single-seater Spitfire: Joseph is doing his classes on it, it will be his first plane " to him ".
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Then come the Lockheed T-33, the De Havilland Vampire and finally, in the Far East, the Grumman F8F "Bearcat". "It is with Concorde, the plane which gave me the most good feelings ..." he admits with a smile which does not betray his thought (this plane had indeed a weight-to-power ratio which gave the pilot a real pleasure to pilot).
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But, at 24, Joseph felt himself above all a pilot more than a soldier and felt the need to be even closer to planes. He registered for the Air France entrance exam and, upon passing, began his career on the Caudron C455-Goéland and Douglas DC-3, the famous Dakota.
He passed the qualifications on Lockheed Constellation and Super-Constellation with ease, then, during the winter of 64, he moved to the "Postale" and became Captain on Caravelle. Return to Air France, with qualifications on B707 and B747. At the end of 1984, the fatality manifested itself in the form of an unexpected phone call: "if you wish, you will soon be able to apply for a Concorde training". Joseph finds it hard to believe it! Some time later he was finally selected, the training will take place in Toulouse, it will last nearly 4 months to end with test flights, in Shannon, in July 1986...…
Joseph s goal has now been achieved, to drive THE " Formula 1 of the airs ".
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The future will still hold some good surprises for him, notably "his" trip around the world, in 1987, from Dallas ...…
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Quite simply, this is a pilot's life based on calm and discretion, values that can only be found in good people.
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Thank you, Mister Robin…
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Joseph Robin passed away on October 7, 2015 to join the sky he loved so much. He was 84 years old...…
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