French aviator and a capitaine de corvette (lieutenant commander) in the French Navy. He is best known for an around-the-world flight he made as copilot and navigator in 1927-1928 (with Dieudonné Costes as pilot) which included history’s first flight across the South Atlantic Ocean, and for record-setting nonstop long-distance flights he made or attempted between 1929 and 1931.
The round-the-world flight made Le Brix one of France’s most famous aviators. Le Brix and Costes were both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by a special act of the Congress of the United States on 2 May 1928 in recognition of their achievement.
After completing the around-the-world trip, Le Brix became an instructor at the flight school of the École Navale in Brest, training pilots for both French Naval Aviation and the French Army’s air service, the Aéronautique Militaire.
In June 1931, Le Brix, Dewoitine chief pilot Marcel Doret, and mechanic René Mesmin broke the record for the longest flight over a closed circuit, flying the Dewoitine D.33 Trait d’Union, funded by the French billionaire François Coty. In a 70-hour nonstop flight from Istres that lasted from 7 to 10 June, they flew 10,372 kilometres (6,441 miles). They also set eight other closed-circuit records, including for flight duration and speed.
The three men made two attempts to achieve the first non-stop flight between Paris and Tokyo. On the second, they departed Paris–Le Bourget Airport on 11 September 1931 in a second Dewoitine D.33 named Trait d’Union II. Flying on, Le Brix, Doret, and Mesmin were over Ufa in the Soviet Union on 12 September when the aircraft’s engine failed and they decided to bail out. Doret jumped first, parachuting to safety. Mesmin apparently had trouble with his parachute and could not follow, so Le Brix stayed with the airplane rather than leave Mesmin alone on board. The D.33 crashed and caught fire, killing both Le Brix and Mesmin. Le Brix was 32.
Link to Wikipedia biography