This is a post, I've been thinking about, since a long while...🙂...In my previous post, I'd explored a bit into the background history of the Boeing 737 (see also Andy1252's recent posts about the classic, original, and extremely rare B737-100 variant), that had initiated the modern era of twinjet (short-haul) commercial service in the world. Then, naturally, my thoughts drifted to the Airbus A320 type, the other short-haul twinjet, that (ubiquitously) dominates the global (commercial) aviation scene today, along with the B737. 

I'd mentioned Joe Sutter and Brien Wygle, as a couple of visionaries and test pilots, from the Boeing side, who helped shape the creation and evolution of the iconic 737 and legendary 747. Likewise, I've been interested in the development of Airbus lineage; the people and the aircraft who shaped its destiny, such as e.g., the A300 that was world's first twin-engine wide-body (Boeing's own first twin-engine wide-body, the 767, would fly 10 years later). And, of course, the A320 brought world's first (digital) FBW implementation into the domain of commercial aviation (it would be another 7 years before Boeing would eventually embrace FBW for the first time, on the 777). 

Airbus was formed as a conglomerate effort, a consortium of European aerospace companies sourced from many different countries, with many prominent leaders. In this post, I wished to focus on the father-son duo that has always intrigued me. Henri Ziegler, the father, was behind the origin and overall success of Airbus industry, and his son, Bernard Ziegler, was behind the origin and success of the A320, the most successful airliner in Airbus history. Moreover, the A320 family has now also become the most-delivered jetliner in history, just recently surpassing the record of the (venerable) Boeing 737 (see graph on my previous post). 

So, from father to son, the spirit of Airbus, so to speak, was already in the blood of Bernard Ziegler...🙂...

• (Father) Henri Ziegler, was one of the founders of Airbus and its first president. He was the driving force behind the development of the first ever Airbus, the A300B, the original aircraft type that entered service with Air France and started Airbus on its road to global success.
• (Son) Bernard Ziegler, touted as the “father” of the A320, was the driving force in developing the cockpit design and fly-by-wire (FBW) control system for the Airbus airliners. His most significant innovation was the use of fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control computers in commercial aircraft. He was not only an airplane engineering pioneer (up until his retirement in December 1997, Ziegler was Senior Vice President of Airbus Engineering) but also was a consummate test pilot. He was in the crew on the first flights of 4 of the 5 most historically significant Airbus types (A300, A310, A320 and A340; with the exception of the A330). A former French Air Force fighter pilot himself, he was the chief test pilot for the Dassault Mirage G program in 1968.

When the A300 took to the air on its maiden flight in Oct. 1972, from Toulouse–Blagnac Airport (where I am also flying today for this post...🙂...), Bernard Ziegler was in the crew. He had joined Airbus in 1972, the same year the A300 project began, and soon became its chief test pilot, flying the first flight of the A300 prototype. Much of today's success of the A320 could be directly attributed to the forethought and vision of Bernard Ziegler. His FBW design philosophy, in one form or another, has now become the industry standard for today's most advanced and most modern commercial airliners (such as A350, B787, B777X etc.). The rapid introduction of advanced computer-based technology on the flight deck may have dramatically changed since his days, but the core principles of commercial FBW belonged to his thought-process.

For example, regarding the (upcoming) Boeing 777X, that Boeing expects to be its flagship long-haul aircraft, here is a statement, I found from BAE Systems, the aerospace company entrusted with the task of flight control electronics for the 777X, "This will be one of the most advanced fly-by-wire systems on any commercial aircraft...".

Note, especially, the mention of fly-by-wire, which was championed (and put to practice) for the first time for such commercial aviation purpose, back when A320 was conceived, by Bernard Ziegler. The sidestick control we see in the Airbus cockpit today (which made in-flight meals much easier to eat...🙂...), and the design legacy of flight envelope protection (whether hard or soft; depending on Airbus or Boeing approach) owes its origin to this most influential advocate and evangelist of the FBW design.

Ziegler is widely considered the father of FBW system in the A320, leading to a fundamental shift in how pilots interact with their aircraft. The commonality in Airbus cockpit design also began with the A320. No matter how one Airbus aircraft varies in size or weight from another, FBW commonality allows the pilot to fly them in the same way. Imagine this: A pilot with an A330 type rating might require as little as only 8 days of training, consisting of about 16 hours of simulator time and around 28 hours of ground school, to transition to an A350. 

It must be stated, however, that the FBW philosophy existed long before Bernard Ziegler. In fact, outside of military applications, the supersonic Concorde, despite its "analog" cockpit, was the world's first production airliner, to use a fly-by-wire (FBW) system (on which airplane, the father, Henri Ziegler, had worked on). Even NASA's Apollo Lunar Module of the 1960s, was one of the earliest examples of FBW technology. Nonetheless, in 1988, the A320 became the first ever commercial airliner to use a fully "digital" FBW system (replacing the traditional mechanical linkages with electronic interfaces). So, it was Bernard Ziegler who spearheaded FBW, for the first time, into the mass-scale production of a commercial airliner.

When Bernard Ziegler passed away in 2021, an A320neo (the test-model Reg. F-WNEO) performed a low-pass over his funeral procession. For the curious (looped) track pattern of this jet in the sky, search for these keywords on-line, "F-WNEO flightradar24 Bernard Ziegler".

So, today, I fly this A320 below, in the colors of Air France, the launch customer of the original A320; on a (similar) loop pattern (see shot #2 below) in the skies above LFBO, Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, in France, where the main Airbus headquarters is located. I lift off from Runway 32L and land back on ILS Runway 14R. And just as, Bernard Ziegler had once piloted not only the first ever Airbus, the A300, but also the FBW pioneer A320, over the skies, the rural sceneries and river plains of Toulouse-Blagnac, I too...🙂...fly across the same airspace and over the same terrain today...in this flight...

One of the most memorable and famous of Bernard Ziegler's quotes is this, "I want to design an airplane that my concierge can fly..."...🙂...a provocative expression of the visionary's thought-process, that has evolved (and still evolving) to forms of FBW that are the norm in today's modern aviation, irrespective of whether with an Airbus sidestick, or with a traditional Boeing control yoke...because it's said that Bernard Ziegler knew that not everyone can fly like a US Air Force test pilot...🙂...

Hope you enjoy this collection of images, below, while, maybe, also thinking a bit about the legacy of this FBW visionary.

Thanks for viewing...!

A great read...really appreciate the effort that you put into this. (I learned lots.) 🙂

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, John F said:

A great read...really appreciate the effort that you put into this. (I learned lots.) 🙂

 

Thanks for the kind words, John...

And I learned too...🙂...

Cheers...!

Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

On 11/6/2025 at 10:48 PM, pmplayer said:

Fine set of shots, thanks for sharing !

cheers 😉

Appreciated the feedback note, pmplayer...🙂...

Cheers...!

Very well done post on Airbus with a great set of shots!

16 hours ago, Pugilist2 said:

Very well done post on Airbus with a great set of shots!

Thanks, P, for the comments.

Good to see you chime in here from time to time...someone I can recall from my earliest days here...🙂... 

Cheers...!