''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 ...

together with the French automobile carriage-builder Georges Kellner. The factory, located at

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 western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

, 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 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 (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 ...

, 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 (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, but its development was frustrated by events. In 1939 Georges Paulin, who in 1934 had designed the Peugeot ''601 Éclipse''

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

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

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, 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. 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 French companies established in 1931 1942 disestablishments in France