Herbert Léonard, beyond music, passionate about Soviet aviation

If the voice of Herbert Léonard has marked generations, little know that he had another passion: aviation. The singer of For pleasuredied Sunday, March 2, following lung cancer at 80, was also a specialist in Soviet aeronautics in the Second World War.

During the 1970s, after two albums without much success and a road accident, Herbert Léonard devoted himself fully to his passion for aviation. He works as a freelancer for Aviation Magazine (acquired in 1991 by Air & Cosmos), where he is interested in Soviet aviation during the Second World War. “He participated in the writing of a hundred articles, between 1970 to 1980”explains Antony Angrand, journalist at the magazine Air et Cosmos. Herbert Léonard writes mainly in the last pages of the magazine, devoted to the history of aviation.

 

« Behind a layer of humor, Herbert worked with absolute seriousness. »»

Antony Angrand, journalist

His passion for this area leads him to also write several works, making him a French specialist in Soviet planes. Among his writings, we find Polikarpov hunting aircraft (1981)an in -depth study of hunters designed by Nikolai Polikarpov. “It is an important and necessary work”Soulne Anthony Angrand. “He published this book when data from the USSR was very little accessible. I think he had a correspondent in the USSR, which he would have met during a tour ”he adds. The journalist describes him as a “Professional at the Briton. Behind a layer of humor, Herbert worked with an absolute seriousness ”.

Even after his years of glory, between 1980 and 1990, Herbert Léonard continued to feed his passion for aviation. In the 2000s, he regularly pushed the doors of the magazine Air et Cosmos (12,000 copies, weekly), not as a music star, but as passionate about technical discussions and aeronautical anecdotes. “They came every six or ten months to take news of his former colleagues”explains Antony Angrand. The latter went to his house in 2002. He remembers his “Well -stocked library”and his plans “That he himself realized at the bunch”.

In addition to his musical work, Herbert Léonard leaves behind a bibliography written with passion. If this activity did not allow her to make a fortune as her artist career, she offers a lasting trace in the understanding of the history of Soviet military aviation.