The Hanriot HD.1 was a French
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
single-seat fighter aircraft. Rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of the
SPAD S.VII
The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...
, the type was supplied to the
Belgian Army
The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...
′s (Belgian Military Aviation) and the (Military Aviation Corps) of the
Royal Italian Army
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
, with both of which it proved highly successful.
Of a total of about 1,200 examples built, 831 were produced by Italian companies under
licence
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
.
Development and production
The
Hanriot company produced a series of pioneering monoplanes pre-war but had settled down as a licence manufacturer, notably of
Sopwith 1½ strutter
The Sopwith Strutter was a British single- or two-seat multi-role biplane aircraft of the First World War.Lake 2002, p. 40. It was the first British two-seat tractor fighter and the first British aircraft to enter service with a synchronised ...
s, when the HD.1 was produced in 1916. The type was a conventional fighter with the general characteristics of a typical Sopwith aircraft, being strongly but lightly built and combining clean lines with a light
wing loading
In aerodynamics, wing loading is the total mass of an aircraft or flying animal divided by the area of its wing. The stalling speed of an aircraft in straight, level flight is partly determined by its wing loading. An aircraft or animal with a ...
. It used the same "1½" (or "W")
cabane strut
In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...
arrangement as the Sopwith two-seater. It had a flat lower wing, though the top wing had quite sharp
dihedral.
[Cheesman 1960, pp. 82–83.]
On the power of its
Le Rhone rotary engine
The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...
it was not outstandingly fast but it was very manoeuvrable and proved popular with pilots as a safe and pleasant aircraft to fly. To maintain a competitive climbing and altitude performance it was usual practice to restrict armament to one
synchronised Vickers machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...
, although there was provision for a second gun and one was occasionally fitted. In French-built aircraft the gun (or guns) were fitted to the sides of the cockpit and were accessible to the pilot without their butts being directly in front of his face in the event of a crash – an unusual but welcome feature, even if its origins lay in the form of the cabane struts. Italian-built versions mounted one machine gun centrally. The type was also produced by the
Nieuport-Macchi company of Varese, Italy, which built almost 900 HD.1s between 1917 and 1919; more than the parent firm.
Operational history
The new type was ordered into production as a possible replacement for the
Nieuport 17
The Nieuport 17 C.1 (or Nieuport XVII C.1 in contemporary sources) was a French sesquiplane fighter designed and manufactured by the Nieuport company during World War I. An improvement over the Nieuport 11, it was a little larger than earlier N ...
but became "superfluous" when it was decided to replace the Nieuport with the SPAD S.7 in the French air service. Some were supplied to the
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
, a few of which were eventually passed to the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
– some naval Hanriots were converted to or built as
floatplanes
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, m ...
with enlarged tail surfaces.
The bulk of early production was supplied to the Belgians, who notoriously had to make do with the Allies's cast-offs. With the Belgian fighter squadrons the HD.1 proved surprisingly successful and the type remained the standard Belgian fighter for the rest of the war.
Willy Coppens
Willy Omer François Jean baron Coppens de Houthulst (6 July 1892 – 21 December 1986) was Belgium's leading fighter ace and the champion "balloon buster" of World War I. He was credited with 37 confirmed victories and six probables.
Early ...
, the top Belgian
ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
of the war, was the most successful HD.1 pilot.
At least one of his machines was experimentally fitted with an 11 mm Vickers machine-gun for use in balloon busting, something at which Coppens excelled. Most of his victories were balloons and many were claimed while flying various HD.1s. These aircraft remained in use until the late 1920s.
The type was also supplied in small numbers to the Italians, who manufactured it in quantity and used it to replace Nieuports and SPADs. The type was considered (by the Italians) to be a better all-round fighter than even the
SPAD S.XIII
The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by '' Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII.
During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bé ...
and it became the standard Italian fighter, equipping 16 of the 18 operational Italian fighter squadrons by November 1918. Surplus Italian-built Hanriots were used by several countries postwar, including the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
.
The U.S.
Naval Aircraft Factory
The Naval Aircraft Factory (NAF) was established by the United States Navy in 1918 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was created to help solve aircraft supply issues which faced the Navy Department upon the entry of the U.S. into World War I. ...
built (or possibly modified/converted) 10 HD.1s in the immediate postwar years. These were mainly used as
trainers
Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...
, although they were also involved in experiments with take-off platforms on warships – they could be fitted with twin guns and at least one machine had a hydrovane and flotation bags of the type developed for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
.
Surviving aircraft
Five examples of the HD.1 are preserved in museums in Europe and the US:
;
* CN 78 Musee Royale de L'Armee,
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
;
* CN 515
Museo Storico Dell'Aeronautica Miltare Italiana,
Vigna di Valle
''Vigna'' is a genus of plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution.Aitawade, M. M., et al. (2012)Section ''Ceratotropis'' of subgenus ''Ceratotropis'' of ''Vigna'' (Leguminosae–Papilionoideae) in India with a new ...
, near
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
;
*
Flieger-Flab-Museum
The Flieger Flab Museum (English: Swiss Air Force Museum) is located in the Canton of Zurich in Dübendorf on the grounds of Dübendorf Air Base. In the museum, 40 airplanes and helicopters are displayed, with the collection divided into dist ...
,
Dübendorf
Dübendorf is a municipality in the district of Uster in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.
It is a suburb of Zürich in Switzerland with a population of about 30,000 (2021). It is the fourth largest city in the canton, after Zürich, Winter ...
near
Zurich
;
* CN 75,
The Vintage Aviator Limited,
Hood Aerodrome
Hood Aerodrome is an aerodrome, located in Masterton, New Zealand, it is located 1 NM South West of the town centre in the suburb of Solway. The aerodrome was named after George Hood, a pioneer Masterton aviator who died trying to make the fi ...
,
Masterton
Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, a former Belgian aircraft, saved by
Richard Shuttleworth before World War II, and formerly held by the
Royal Air Force Museum
The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is a registered charity.
The museum is split into two separate sites:
* ...
This example was restored to airworthy status after being acquired by TVAL and is occasionally flown from
Hood Aerodrome
Hood Aerodrome is an aerodrome, located in Masterton, New Zealand, it is located 1 NM South West of the town centre in the suburb of Solway. The aerodrome was named after George Hood, a pioneer Masterton aviator who died trying to make the fi ...
,
Masterton
Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...
in
Wairarapa
The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
;
* CN 5934
in
Chino, California
Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino is adjacent to Chino ...
. This airplane was flown by famed World War I French Ace
Charles Nungesser in the 1925 movie ''
The Sky Raider
''The Sky Raider'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Charles Nungesser, Jacqueline Logan and Gladys Walton. With the interest in the aviators of World War I, producer Gilbert E. Gable and Arcadia Pr ...
''. May have been an
HD.2C in the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
.
Operators
;
*
Aviation Militaire Belge
**
1ère Escadrille de Chasse
The 1st Squadron (french: 1re escadrille) is a Recce squadron in the Air Component of the Belgian Armed Forces. Based at Florennes air base, it is part of the 2nd Tactical Wing and operates the General Dynamics F-16 Block 20 MLU Fighting Falcon. ...
*
Groupe de Chasse
''Groupe de Chasse'' or ''groupe de chasse'' (usually abbreviated as GC) is the French language term for " fighter group" or "fighter wing". More literal translations include "pursuit group" (the US term for fighter groups prior to 1942) and "hu ...
**
9ème Escadrille de Chasse
**
10ème Escadrille de Chasse
**
11ème Escadrille de Chasse
;
*
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
;:
*
Ecuadorian Air Force
The Ecuadorian Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana, FAE) is the Air arm of the Military of Ecuador and responsible for the protection of the Ecuadorian airspace.
Mission
To develop the military air wing, in order to execute institutional o ...
- One aircraft only.
;:
*
Corpo Aeronautico Militare
The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballo ...
- Standard Italian fighter at the end of World War I
;:
*
Paraguayan Air Force
The Armed forces of Paraguay ( es, Fuerzas Armadas de Paraguay) consist of the Paraguayan army, navy (including naval aviation and marine corps) and air force.
The constitution of Paraguay establishes the president of Paraguay as the commander- ...
- Three aircraft only.
;:
*
Swiss Air Force
The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army and ...
- Postwar
;:
*
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
Specifications (HD.1)
See also
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
1910s French fighter aircraft
Hanriot aircraft
Macchi aircraft
Biplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1916
Rotary-engined aircraft