Jean Coureau was born on June 1, 1928, in Bouillac, in the French region of Tarn and Garonne. He began flying gliders out of Montauban airfield shortly after World War II, while still in high school. He joined Ecole de l’Air, the French Air Force’s training school, in 1947, and qualified as a fighter pilot in Meknès in 1949. In 1950, he was among the very first French pilot to retrain for jet-powered aircraft, and was posted to the 4th fighter squadron the following year, where he promptly cemented his skills. His talent soon caught the eye of CEV, a test flight center, where he was assigned in 1954.
He qualified as a test pilot in 1956, and worked on the day’s leading-edge military Mystère II, Mistral, Vautour, Fouga Marine and Mystère IV aircraft. He was also active in tests on lightweight interceptor Gerfaut I and II, Trident, Durandal and Mirage III 001 aircraft, the pool from which the Mirage III was chosen. As a pilot, he worked on the team defining this plane’s specifications and conducting its first tests at CEV (Mirage III A 01 in 1958). He joined Générale Aéronautique Marcel Dassault in 1960, for the final fine-tuning and most delicate tests. Also known for his aerobatic prowess, he performed over 100 spirals on different Mirage III configurations, and performed the Mirage III C’s, Mirage III E’s and Mirage III R’s maiden flights (the first in 1960, the second and third in 1961).