Communities along France’s Atlantic shore have long held a special relationship with the sea. What has for centuries been a region of sailors, shipbuilders and maritime traders has evolved into one of Europe’s most dynamic centers for sailing technology innovation. 

The region is home to a thriving ecosystem where boat builders, equipment manufacturers, naval architects, and sailing technology startups collaborate to push the boundaries of what’s possible on water. These range from sustainable marine propulsion to revolutionary hull designs and foils to the use of advanced materials. 

But what does this have to do with aviation? The world of competitive sailing provided the inspiration for Arthur Léopold-Léger and Cyril Champenois to launch one of Europe’s most promising startups in the field of general and training aviation. 

Elixir Aircraft was founded in a garage in 2015, with the idea of adapting some of the technologies and methods of the advanced sailing boat industry to create a fourth-generation light aircraft that would be lighter, cheaper, safer, and more efficient to fly. 

Elixir Aircraft
Miquel Ros / AeroTime

Léopold-Léger, co-founder and CEO of Elixir Aircraft, hailed from a sailing background, but also obtained an aerospace engineering degree. And it was, in fact, while working as an engineer at several aerospace companies in France that he came to the realization that the light aircraft industry was way more conservative in its approach to technology adoption than the boat builders he knew so well. 

He recognized that there was an opportunity to disrupt the general aviation and flight training market with a clean-sheet aircraft and enrolled his co-founder, Champenois, in the effort. Today Champenois manages the commercial and marketing side of the business. 

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