Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by

René Hanriot René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the femin ...

in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different forms until 1916 when it established itself with the Hanriot-Dupont (HD.) fighters and observation aircraft. The company lasted through several takeovers and structural changes until in 1936 it merged with

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

to become the

Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre SNCAC (the ', sometimes known as ) was a French aircraft manufacturer created by the nationalisation of the Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot firms in 1936 in aviation, 1936. It was liquidated in 1949, with assets distributed between SNCAN, SNC ...

(SNCAC). 'Central Air Works' consortium. Hanriot aeroplanes included pre-war monoplanes with boat-like fuselages, the HD.1 and 2 World War I biplane fighters, the HD.14 trainer, and the H.220 series of twin-engined heavy fighters that eventually evolved in the SNCAC 600 fighter just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The company's main bases of operations were Bétheny (a suburb of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

)

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the Parisian area, located from its Kilometre zero, centre. It is a Subprefectures in ...

, Carrières-sur-Seine and

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

History

René Hanriot, a builder and racer of motor boats and a race car driver for the

Darracq A Darracq and Company Limited owned a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines in Suresnes, near Paris. The French enterprise, known at first as A. Darracq et Cie, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after he sold his Gladi ...

motor company, built his first aircraft in 1907, although it did not fly until late 1909. It was a

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with a wire-braced wooden fuselage resembling the

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fam ...

but was almost immediately superseded by a series of similar monoplanes, which were exhibited at the Brussels ''Salon d'Automobiles, d'Aeronautique, du Cycles et dus Sports'' in January 1910. These featured a slender wooden

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

fuselage and were powered by a 20 hp

and a 40 hp Gyp. and a handful were built. Together with Darracq racing colleague Louis Wagner, Hanriot started a flying school at Bétheny near

, where the Hanriot factory was located. Beatrix de Rijk, the first Dutch women to earn a pilot's licence learned to fly there. Unusually, Hanriot tested new design features using a flying model powered by a 2 kW (3 hp) Duthiel-Chalmers. In 1910 Hanriot and his staff pilots made regular appearances at air shows in France and England. Hanriot's 15-year-old son Marcel Hanriot became the youngest holder of a pilot's certificate, and joined his father's pilots as a competition flyer.

then withdrew from competition flying himself and concentrated on constructing aircraft. Hanriot's 1911 military two-seater was passed over at the French military trials, among other reasons because its fuselage was so slender that the crew were completely unshielded. It was obsolete and never had a serious chance against contemporary

Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars. History Beginnings Originally formed as Nieuport-Duplex in ...

Morane-Saulnier Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (aircraft manufacturer), Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Robert and Léon Morane, Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and ...

and Deperdussin types. Nieuport's former chief engineer Alfred Pagny designed the 1912 Hanriot, and the Nieuport influence was clearly visible, but it failed to gain any orders at the 1912 military trials and attempts to sell them were unsuccessful. Faced with bankruptcy, René Hanriot sold his assets to Louis Alfred Ponnier, who reorganized the company as the ''Société de Construction de Machines pour la Navigation Aérienne'' (CMNA), headed by Pagny. In 1913, Marcel Hanriot, now 18, was called up for military service. The Ponnier factory continued for several years to develop the monoplane racer, one of which was placed second in the 1913 Gordon Bennett Trophy competition. Following the outbreak of

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 ...

, Marcel Hanriot, still in military service, flew French air force bombers. The German advance stalled with the CMNA/Ponnier factories in Rheims behind German lines, but René Hanriot founded a new factory, ''Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie'', in Levallois. Starting as a subcontractor building airplane components, the company progressed to licence-build aircraft from other manufacturers (notably the Sopwith 1 A.2 and

Salmson 2 A.2 The Salmson 2 A.2, (often shortened to Salmson 2) was a French biplane reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Salmson to a 1916 requirement. Along with the Breguet 14, it was the main reconnaissance aircraft of the French army in 1918 ...

). In 1915, Marcel Hanriot, after being seriously wounded in a night-flying raid, was released from military service and joined his father's factory. Around the same time, Hanriot hired the young engineer Emile Dupont and in 1916, the Dupont-designed fighter HD.1 was produced. Although being passed over by the French air force in favor of the more powerful

SPAD 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 ...

design, the HD.1 was ordered by the Belgian and Italian air force. Heavy demand resulted in a new factory being opened in

(84, rue des Moulineaux). Licences to build the HD.1 were also sold to

Macchi Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Ita ...

in Italy. Hanriot produced 5000 aircraft and employed 2000 workers in his Boulogne-Billancourt factory alone. After the war, Hanriot continued as a manufacturer of fighters and all-purpose aircraft, building on the HD.1 / HD.2 series but also bringing out new biplane and monoplane designs. In 1924, having outgrown its Boulogne-Billancourt works, the company moved to Carrières-sur-Seine René Hanriot died on 7 November 1925. His heirs, Marcel and his two brothers-in-law, entrusted daily operations of the factories to Outhenin Chalandre, formerly director of a paper mill. In 1930 the Hanriot company became part of the

Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer ''Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville'' (known as ''De Dietri ...

company under the name Lorraine-Hanriot. The merger lasted three years, until in 1933 the two companies separated and Marcel Hanriot stepped once again forward to lead his family business. Under his management, the company embarked on an ambitious project to design and build state-of-the-art metal military aircraft like the H.220 heavy fighter. However its main successes would be with the liaison/training monoplane H.180/H.182 and the twin-engined H.232/H.232 trainer In 1936 the company was included in

Pierre Cot Pierre Jules Cot (20 November 1895, in Grenoble – 21 August 1977, Paris), was a French politician and leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s. Born in Grenoble into a conservative Catholic family, he entered politics as a ...

's nationalisation programme, Merging with

to become the

in 1937. Unlike

Maurice Farman Maurice Alain Farman (21 March 1877 – 25 February 1964) was a British-French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer. Biography Born in Paris to English parents, he and his brothers Richard and ...

, who left the new company in protest, Marcel Hanriot stayed on as one of the directors.

Nomenclature

* The pre-war aircraft designed by

went by Roman Numerals, the 1907 monoplane being the 'Type I'. Commonly however the planes were known by a description usually featuring the year of built and some characteristic such as 'monoplane', one- or two-seater, engine and horsepower. Thus Hanriot's first airplane was the '1907 monoplane', the type IV was the '1911 military two-seater' and the Hanriot VIII was known as the 'Hanriot 100 ch' (100 Hp Hanriot). The monoplane two-seater designed by Pagny is mostly referred to as the Hanriot 1912 monoplane or the Hanriot-Pagny 1912 monoplane. * The

and later biplanes designed by

Pierre Dupont Pierre Dupont (23 April 1821 – 25 July 1870) was a French songwriter. Dupont was born in Lyon as the son of a blacksmith. His mother died before he was five years old, and he was brought up in the country by his godfather, a village priest. ...

received the code 'HD.' followed by a consecutive Arabic number (HD.1, HD.8, HD.32 ...) * During the short stint as Lorraine-Hanriot, the designation HD. was kept for aircraft already in production but the prefix was changed into LH. for new designs. Around this time, Hanriot also adopted the habit by other French factories to add a number for the subtype directly behind the two-digit type number. Thus the HD.32-series 0 became the HD.320, the next improvement, series 1 became the HD.321 and so on... * After the merger with Lorraine was dissolved, Hanriot aircraft adopted the single letter 'H.', again followed by a design number. It also kept the now universal French habit of adding the subseries number directly behind the design number. (Hanriot H.180/H.182)

Aircraft

* Hanriot 1909 monoplane * Hanriot I *

Hanriot Type II Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

Hanriot III Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

Hanriot IV Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

Hanriot 1911 military two-seater (Type IV) *

Hanriot V Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

Hanriot 1910 monoplane (Type V) *

Hanriot VI Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

Hanriot 1910 monoplane (Type VI) *

Hanriot VII Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

Hanriot VIII Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

Hanriot 100 ch monoplane (Type VII) *

Hanriot IX Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

* Hanriot-Pagny 1912 monoplane * Hanriot HD.1 *

Hanriot HD.2 The Hanriot HD.2 was a biplane floatplane fighter aircraft produced in France during the First World War that was used after the war for testing the use of aircraft from warships. Development The design was based on that of the HD.1, but was ...

* Hanriot HD.3 *

Hanriot HD.4 The Hanriot HD.3 C.2 was a two-seat fighter aircraft produced in France during World War I. Design and development Similar in appearance to a scaled-up HD.1, the Hanriot HD.3 was a conventional, single-bay biplane with staggered wings of equal ...

Hanriot HD.5 The Hanriot HD.5 was a French two-seat fighter aircraft prototype, built towards the end of World War I. A single-engine biplane with an unusually narrow gap between the upper and lower wings, it did not enter production. Design and developmen ...

Hanriot HD.6 The Hanriot HD.6 was a French two-seat fighter aircraft prototype, built towards the end of World War I though not flown until after the armistice with Germany. A biplane with an unusually narrow gap between upper and lower wings, powered by a si ...

Hanriot HD.7 The Hanriot HD.7 was a French fighter prototype of the 1910s. Development The HD.7 was based largely on the Hanriot HD.3, using the wings and tail surfaces from the earlier model. A single-seat fighter, it first flew in 1918 Operational history ...

* Hanriot HD.8 *

Hanriot HD.9 The Hanriot HD.3 C.2 was a two-seat fighter aircraft produced in France during World War I. Design and development Similar in appearance to a scaled-up HD.1, the Hanriot HD.3 was a conventional, single-bay biplane with staggered wings of equal ...

Hanriot HD.12 The Hanriot HD.2 was a biplane floatplane fighter aircraft produced in France during the First World War that was used after the war for testing the use of aircraft from warships. Development The design was based on that of the HD.1, but was a ...

* Hanriot HD.14 * Hanriot HD.15 * Hanriot HD.17 *

Hanriot HD.18 The Hanriot HD.18 was a three-seat colonial police aircraft built by Hanriot in the early 1920s. Specifications (HD.18) References Further reading * * * {{Hanriot aircraft Hanriot aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1921 ...

Hanriot HD.19 The Hanriot HD.19 was a military trainer aircraft produced in France in the 1920s. Design and development Part of the family of designs that began with the HD.14, the HD.19 was a two-bay biplane with unstaggered wings of equal span. The pilot ...

* Hanriot HD.20 *

Hanriot HD.22 The Hanriot HD.22 was a racer aircraft built by Hanriot in the early 1920s. Design The HD.22 was a high-wing monoplane intended for the Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe The Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe was an international aeronautical speed comp ...

Hanriot HD.24 The Hanriot HD.24 was a two-seat colonial police biplane aircraft built by Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Ha ...

Hanriot H.25 The Hanriot H.25 was a French, single-engined, six passenger airliner built in 1926. Only one was flown. Design and development The Hanriot H.25 was a braced, high wing monoplane. It had an all-metal structure, covered everywhere with fabric ...

* Hanriot H.26 *

Hanriot HD.28 __NOTOC__ The Hanriot HD.28 was a military trainer aircraft developed in France in the 1920s as a modernised version of the HD.14 for export markets. The principal difference between the types was that while the HD.14 had an entirely wooden struc ...

Hanriot H.31 The Hanriot H.31 was a single engine, single seat French biplane fighter aircraft built in 1925 to compete in a government programme. It was not successful and only one prototype was completed. Design and development The Hanrot H.31 was designe ...

* Hanriot HD.32 *

Hanriot H.33 The Hanriot H.33 was a French biplane 2-seat fighter aircraft built in 1926, derived from the Hanriot H.31. It was not successful and only one prototype was completed. Specifications References {{Hanriot aircraft Single-engined tractor ...

Hanriot H.34 The Hanriot H.34 was a training aircraft, basic trainer designed in France in 1924 which did not reach production. It was a parasol wing aircraft, seating two in tandem. Design and development The parasol winged Hanriot H.34 was intended to com ...

Hanriot H.35 The Hanriot H.35 was a 1920s French intermediate training monoplane designed and built by Avions Hanriot. Design and development The H.35 was developed from the earlier H.34 basic trainer and was a two-seat strut-braced parasol monoplane. The ...

Hanriot H.36 Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

Hanriot H.38 The Hanriot H.38 was a French twin-engined sesquiplane flying boat built in the mid-1920s. Though the sole prototype was fitted with two defensive machine gun posts. the H.38 was described at the time as a utility aircraft. Design and developm ...

* Lorraine-Hanriot LH.10 * Lorraine-Hanriot LH.21 * Lorraine-Hanriot LH.30 *

Hanriot H.41 The Hanriot H.41 was a military trainer aircraft produced in France in the 1920s. It was a further development in the family of aircraft that had commenced with the Hanriot HD.14, HD.14 in 1920, and incorporated a number of design features that h ...

Hanriot H.43 The Hanriot H.43 was a military utility aircraft produced in France in the late 1920s and early 1930s which was primarily used by the ''Aéronautique Militaire'' as a trainer. While Hanriot had spent most of the 1920s manufacturing further and fur ...

* Lorraine-Hanriot LH.60 * Lorraine-Hanriot LH.70 *

Hanriot H.110 The Hanriot H.110 was an unusual pusher configuration, twin boom, single seat fighter aircraft built in France in the early 1930s. It proved to be slower and less manoeuvrable than its contemporaries and failed to reach production, even as the Ha ...

* Hanriot H.115 * Hanriot HD.120 * Lorraine-Hanriot LH.130 * Hanriot H.180/H.182 * Hanriot H.220/SNCAC 600 * Hanriot H.2300/H.232

Notes

References

* Bruce J.M. ''The Hanriot HD 1'' Leatherhead: Profile Publications, 1966. * Davilla, James J., & Soltan, Arthur M., ''French Aircraft of the First World War.'' Stratford, Connecticut: Flying Machines Press, 1997. * Munson, Kenneth. ''Pioneer Aircraft 1903-1914'' Blandford Press, London 1969. * Opdycke, Leonard. ''French Aeroplanes before the Great War''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999

External links

Video of flight of 1910 Hanriot plane
{{Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1907 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1936 French companies established in 1907 1936 disestablishments in France