''Societatea Pentru Exploatări Technice'' or SET ("Technical Development Society") was a Romanian aircraft manufacturer. It was the second biggest Romanian pre-war aircraft manufacturer, after Industria Aeronautică Română (IAR).

History

The Societatea Pentru Exploatări Tehnice was established in Bucharest in 1923 by Grigore Zamfirescu as a general machinery manufacturing plant. It soon specialised in building aircraft to its founder's design, supplying the

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...

with trainers during the mid-1930s. At the peak of aircraft production, Zamfirescu changed the company's name to Fabrica de Avioane SET. In the late 1930s, SET abandoned producing its own designs, and manufactured a number of IAR and foreign types under licence, including the

IAR 27 The IAR 27 was a 1930s Romanian two-seat low-wing monoplane primary trainer designed and built by Industria Aeronautică Română. Design and development Based on the earlier IAR 21 and in particular the IAR 22 but the design was simplified to all ...

IAR 39 The IAR 37 was a 1930s Romanian reconnaissance or light bomber aircraft built by Industria Aeronautică Română. Development The IAR 37 prototype was flown for the first time in 1937 to meet a requirement for a tactical bombing and reconnaissan ...

, Fleet 10, and

Nardi FN.305 The Nardi FN.305 was an Italian fighter trainer and liaison monoplane developed by the Fratelli Nardi company. Development The FN.305 was designed as a trainer and liaison aircraft and the prototype first flew on 19 January 1935. The FN.305 was ...

. In 1938, the company made a deal with the Romanian government that would have seen it relocate its manufacturing facilities to Moldavia, with the government promising to purchase a minimum order of aircraft each year from the new plant. This venture was to have been called "''Industria Nationala Aeronautica''" ("National Aeronautical Industry"), but it failed to materialise when the Second World War intervened. During the war, SET built

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

s under licence. SET continued to maintain and repair aircraft until the end of World War II, after which it continued business for a time outside the aeronautics industry.

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* * {{Romanian aerospace industry Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1923 Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Romania Greater Romania 1923 establishments in Romania Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1945 1945 disestablishments in Romania Companies based in Bucharest

History

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