''Avions Kellner-Béchereau'', known as Kellner-Béchereau, was a French aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century.

History

The company was founded in 1931 by

Louis Béchereau Louis Béchereau (July 25, 1880 in Plou, Cher – March 18, 1970 in Paris) was a French aeronautical engineer and pioneer of French aviation. Biography After having attended the École nationale professionnelle in Vierzon, Béchereau went to t ...

together with the French automobile carriage-builder Georges Kellner. The factory, located at Boulogne-Billancourt, began building light monoplanes. In 1936–37 ''Avions Kellner-Béchereau'' built a short series of small monoplanes exploiting one of Louis Béchereau's patents, a full span lateral division of the wing into two sections forming a "double wing". The wing was first tested on the single-seat Kellner-Béchereau E.1 on 1936, which was followed by two larger and more powerful two-seaters, the Kellner-Béchereau EC.4 and ED.5. Both of these were designed to meet the French Air Ministry's requirement for a pre-military trainer aircraft to be used by the clubs set up in the "Aviation Populaire" programme. The Kellner-Béchereau designs, however, were not ordered for the ''Aviation Populaire'' programme, the Air Ministry opting in favour of the

Caudron C.270 The Caudron C.270 ''Luciole'' ("Firefly") was a sporting, touring and trainer aircraft produced in France in the 1930s, derived from the C.230. Design and construction It was a conventional biplane with single-bay, unstaggered wings of equal s ...

and the Salmson Cri-Cri which were both bought in large numbers. Instead, Kellner-Béchereau, along with other manufacturers, built the Cri-Cri under licence. On the eve of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, Louis Béchereau conceived a monoplane, the Kellner-Béchereau E.60, also known as K.B.E 60, an embarked monoplane for the aircraft carriers of 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 ...

, but its development was frustrated by events. In 1939

Georges Paulin Georges Paulin was a French Jewish dentist, acclaimed and inventive automobile designer and coachwork stylist, and died as a hero of the French Resistance during World War II. Born 1902 in a working class section of Paris, Paulin was a pioneer of ...

, who in 1934 had designed the Peugeot ''601 Éclipse''

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

automobile, joined the aerodynamical department of the Kellner-Béchereau factory. A member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, he was arrested in 1941 and executed the following year. The Kellner-Béchereau factory was destroyed by bombing in 1942 and the ''Avions Kellner-Béchereau'' company was subsequently merged with

Morane-Saulnier Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier was a French aircraft manufacturing company formed in October 1911 by Raymond Saulnier (1881–1964) and the Morane brothers, Léon (1885–1918) and Robert (1886–1968). The company was taken over and diversified ...

. Louis Béchereau was given a post as a director at Morane-Saulnier until his retirement in 1950.

Aircraft

* Kellner-Béchereau 23 * Kellner-Béchereau 28VD * Kellner-Béchereau 29 * Kellner-Béchereau 30 * Kellner-Béchereau E.1 * Kellner-Béchereau E.4 * Kellner-Béchereau EC.4 * Kellner-Béchereau ED.5 * Kellner-Béchereau E.5 * Kellner-Béchereau E.60

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kellner-Bechereau Defunct aircraft manufacturers of France Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1931 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1942 Defunct manufacturing companies of France Kellner-Béchereau aircraft, French companies established in 1931 1942 disestablishments in France