The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for the military in both

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From 1933 onwards, it was a subsidiary of

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

Alphonse (Gaston) (1882–1915) and René Caudron (1884–1959)

Born in Favières, Somme to parents who farmed nearby in Romiotte, the Caudron brothers were educated at a college in

Abbeville Abbeville (; ; ) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is the of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu. Geography Location A ...

. Gaston, as Alphonse was always known, intended to become an engineer but his education was cut short by health problems; René was interested in the development of mechanics and was a sportsman. After military service in an artillery regiment, they returned to work on the farm. They began to build their first aircraft, a large

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

, in August 1908. Initially unable to obtain an engine, they flew it as a glider, towed by a horse, and tested it through the summer. In September 1909, they finally flew it under power. By April 1910, they were able to make a return flight of to Forest-Montiers. Gaston Caudron died in an aircraft accident on 15 December 1915 at the airfield at

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

. René continued in the aircraft business until the

fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...

at the start of

. He died in 1959.

Caudron Frères and Caudron-Renault

Needing a more convenient base than the farm, the brothers established their factory in nearby Le Crotoy, on the eastern side of the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

estuary about from Abbeville and with a broad, flat, firm, south facing beach ideal for flying. They set up a flying school there which was functioning by 19 May 1910. This activity flourished and by early 1913 a second school had been set up at Port-Aviation (often called "Juvisy Airfield") in Viry-Châtillon with a combined capacity of 100 to 250. The War Ministry sent about 30 student pilots there in 1913. By then the company was based at Rue, Somme. During World War I, the company moved its production to

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and Issy-les-Moulineaux, as the Somme plant was too close to the battle front. Designers of many aircraft like the two-seater Caudron G.3 that successfully landed on

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

in 1921, Caudron produced the

trainers Sneakers ( US) or trainers ( UK), also known by a wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual wear. They were popularized by compani ...

in which thousands of pilots got their first flying licence. The Caudron plants at Lyon and Issy-les-Moulineaux produced nearly 4,000 airplanes during World War I. In 1920, the Lyon plant stopped assembling and the Issy-les-Moulineaux site was consolidated as the headquarters and main production base. In 1933, Caudron was acquired by

, following pressure from the French Air Ministry, which was seeking consolidation in the aircraft industry. At the time, Renault was increasing its involvement in the aviation field. Renault took a controlling 55% stake while René Caudron kept the remaining 45%. both the Société des Avions Caudron and Renault's aircraft engine branch were integrated into the Renault Aviation division led by François Lehideux (as top manager), Marcel Riffard (as aircraft body chief designer) and Charles-Edmond Serre (aircraft engine chief designer). The Issy-les-Moulineaux plant improved synergies with the Billancourt engine plant, as both were in the Paris area. In 1937, Renault bought out René Caudron's minority stake. Renault Viva Boucher

As part of Renault, Caudron centred on producing light, sportier aircraft powered by either inline-four or

inline-six A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...

cylinder engines, mirroring its automotive range at the time. Riffard was an expert on streamlined designs, which helped to achieve good speeds on low power. Caudron-Renault aircraft set several records in the 1930s. In August 1934, Hélène Boucher, on board her C 450, achieved the world record average speed for 100 kilometres, 1000 kilometres, and the world female speed record. In December 1934, Raymond Delmotte got a land aircraft world speed record of 505 km/h on board his C 460. According to '' Popular Aviation'', by November 1935 Caudron-Renault was producing the following models: the C 272-3 ''Luciole'' (2-seat light biplane aircraft), the C 282-8 ''Phalene VIII'' (4-seat light monoplane), the C 360 (monoplane), the C 366 ''Atalante'' (a monoplane based on an earlier model), the C 440 (twin-engined low-wing cabin monoplane), the C 450 (1-seat racing monoplane), the C 460 (1-seat racing monoplane) and the C 530 ''Rafale'' (high-performance, 2-seat light monoplane). By 1936, Renault was hit by the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and, in 1938, it spun off Caudron-Renault into a separate, autonomous subsidiary in order to focus on its core automotive business. After France was occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during World War II, Caudron-Renault produced trainers, auto bodies,

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in parti ...

aircraft parts, Messerschmitt Bf 108s the Caudron's Simoun and Goéland ranges, the Siebel Si-204, for the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

. It also repaired aircraft. In February 1942, Willy Messerschmitt requested that Caudron produce the Messerschmitt Me 164, a Si-104 rival, but that was sabotaged. The Issy-les-Moulineaux plant was almost completely destroyed by RAF and AAF bombings that took place in September 1943, leaving it permanently out of production. In 1944, the remaining Caudron-Renault operations were nationalised by the French government and became part of the Société Nationale de Construction aéronautique du Centre.

Aircraft

(''Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères'' / ''Société des avions Caudron'') * Hydroaéroplane Caudron-Fabre * Caudron Type A * Caudron Type B.2 * Caudron Type C * Caudron Type D *

Caudron Type E The Caudron Type E two-seat Trainer (aircraft), trainer was a larger and more powerful development of the Caudron Type C, Type C. Two or three were bought by the France, French military and one by the Royal Navy just before World War I, but its s ...

* Caudron Type F * Caudron Type G * Caudron G.2 * Caudron G.3 * Caudron G.4 * Caudron G.6 * Caudron Type H * Caudron Type J * Caudron Type K * Caudron Type L * Caudron Type M * Caudron Type N * Caudron Type O * Caudron Type P *

Caudron R The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

Caudron C.410 The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

''Super Phalene'' * Caudron C.430 ''Rafale'' * Caudron C.440 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.441 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.444 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.445 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.445/1 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.445/2 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.445/3 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.445M ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.445R ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.446 ''Super Goéland'' * Caudron C.447 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.448 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.449 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.449/1 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.449/2 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.449/3 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.449/4 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.449/5 ''Goéland'' * Caudron C.450 * Caudron C.460 * Caudron C.461 * Caudron C.480 ''Frégate'' * Caudron C.490 * Caudron C.491 * Caudron C.500 ''Simoun I'' * Caudron C.510 ''Pélican'' * Caudron C.520 ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.530 ''Rafale'' * Caudron C.560 * Caudron C.561 * Caudron C.570 * Caudron C.580 * Caudron C.600 ''Aiglon'' * Caudron C.601 ''Aiglon'' * Caudron C.610 ''Aiglon'' * Caudron C.620 ''Simoun IV'' * Caudron C.630 ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.631 ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.632 ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.634 ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.635 ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.635M ''Simoun'' * Caudron C.640 ''Typhon'' * Caudron C.641 ''Typhon'' * Caudron C.660 ''Rafale'' * Caudron C.670 ''Typhon'' * Caudron C.680 * Caudron C.684 * Caudron C.685 ''Super Rafale'' *

Caudron C.690 __NOTOC__ The Caudron C.690 was a single-seat Trainer (aircraft), training aircraft developed in France in the late 1930s to train Fighter aircraft, fighter pilots to handle high-performance aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing cantilever mon ...

* Caudron C.710 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron C.711 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron C.712 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron C.713 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron C.714 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron C.720 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron-Renault CR.760 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron-Renault CR.770 ''Cyclone'' * Caudron C.800 ''Epervier'' * Caudron C.801 * Caudron C.810 * Caudron C.811 * Caudron C-815 * Caudron C.860 * Caudron C.870 * Caudron C.880 * Caudron KXC * Caudron Navy Experimental Type C Trainer * Caudron LEI

References

External links

Aviation Pioneers: An Anthology – Gaston & René Caudron

Aviafrance list of Caudron aircraft

{{Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Renault Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Manufacturing companies established in 1909 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1944 French companies established in 1909 1944 disestablishments in France 1933 mergers and acquisitions