Louis Béchereau Designations

[Apophenia]

Louis Béchereau Aircraft Designations

Louis Béchereau (1880-1970) is best-known for aircraft designed for Armand Deperdussin (with Clément Ader's Société de Construction d'Appareils Aériens) and, later, a series of WWI SPAD fighter designs.

My purpose here is not to list all of Louis Béchereau's Deperdussin, SPAD, or Bernard designs. Instead, I'm trying to list all aircraft designations bearing Béchereau's name. These include: S.A.B., Letord-Béchereau, Buscaylet-Béchereau, Salmson-Béchereau, and Kellner-Béchereau.

An exception to my self-imposed rule is S.R.A.P. (Société pour la Réalisation d'Avions Prototypes) which I include for completeness. Does anyone have any other aircraft designs bearing Louis Béchereau's name?

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Béchereau's career went something like as follows:

1902: Joined Clément Ader at Bezons (automotive work)

1903: Hired by Société anonyme de construction d'appareils aériens
-- SACAA: Formed by Clément Ader's son-in-law, George Manthe

1909: Designer, SACAA (aka 'Avionnerie de Levallois')

1909: Assistant Designer, Société A. Deperdussin et de Feure

1910: Technical Director, Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin

1914: Technical Director, Société Pour l'Aviation et ses Dérivés*
-- * SPAD renamed after Blériot Aéronautique take-over (Aug 1914)

1918: André Herbemont succeeds Béchereau as SPAD Technical Director

1918: Joins Avions Bernard under Technical Director Jean Hubert

1918: Société et Ateliers Béchereau, [1] aka'Société des trois B'
-- S.A.B. = Béchereau, Adolphe Bernard, and Marc Birkigt [2]

1918: Béchereau also working for Établissements Adolphe Bernard

1920: Société et Ateliers Béchereau goes into liquidation

1921: Designs LB-2 for Établissements Letord (Émile-Louis Letord)
-- LB-2 dev. continued as 1924 Buscaylet-Béchereau BB-2

1922: Bernard becomes SIMB (Société industrielle des métaux et du bois)

1923: Chief of airframe design staff for Salmson
-- Société des Moteurs Salmson

1926: Designs for Société pour la Réalisation d'Avions Prototypes

1927: SIMB becomes Société des Avions Bernard ('Avions Bernard')
-- No known Béchereau designations for any Bernard aircraft

1927: Béchereau Technical Director of Société des Avions Bernard
-- Former Technical Director, Jean Hubert, killed in auto accident

1932: Formed Avions Kellner-Béchereau with Georges Kellner*
-- * Kellner was an automotive coach-builder (carrossier)

1942: Avions Kellner-Béchereau merged with Morane-Saulnier
-- Béchereau becomes Director of Morane-Saulnier (until 1950)

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[1] The name is unconfirmed. To confuse matters further, The Aeroplane (07 Jan 1920) lists the acronym as standing for Société des Appareils Béchereau, Société des Aéroplanes Béchereau, or Société des Avions Béchereau ???

[2] Louis Blériot is sometimes linked with S.A.B. This seems unlikely since Blériot Aéronautique and SPAD were connected, merging in 1920.
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[Apophenia]

Louis Béchereau Aircraft Designations

S.A.B. - the Société et Ateliers Béchereau - 1918-1920

S.A.B.1 - 1918 single-seat biplane fighter, span 9.35 m, x 5
- S.A.B.1: 1 x 300 hp Hispano-Suiza 8Fb, 2 x 7.7 mm Vickers*
-- * Other sources say 4 x mgs (2 synchronized, 2 in wings)
-- The Aeroplane (07 Jan 1920) lists a/c as 'S.A.B.4'**
-- ** aka Béchereau-Levasseur (airframe built by Levasseur)
-- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Levasseur_S.A.B._fighter_Paris_1919_080120_p44.jpg
-- Monocoque fuselage, annular radiator behind spinner
-- http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/FT/FT1920/01/46-1.jpg

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Établissements Letord or Société d'Aviation Letord - 1921-1922

Letord-Béchereau LB-2: 1921-1922 C1 (single seat fighter):
-- NB: Letord Let-2 (L-2) was a twin-engined recce biplane
-- 3 view: http://www.aviastar.org/pictures/france/buscaylet_2.gif

Louis Béchereau and Émile-Louis Letord shared at least two aircraft-related patents - 'Improvements to radial engine assemblies on airplanes', 20 Oct 1923, and 'Improvements made to the visibility onboard aircraft', 23 Oct 1923.

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Buscaylet-Béchereau
- Design built by Buscaylet Pére et Fils-Bobin et Cie

BB-1 - (??) speculative designation

BB-2 - 1924 single-seat parasol monoplane fighter
- BB-2: Letord-Bechereau LB-2 deriv., span 14.00 m
- aka Buscaylet-Bechereau C.1 (to 1923 C1 contest)
- BB-2: 1 x 500 hp Salmson 18CM water-cooled 18-cyl*
-- * Extension shaft fitted to this twin-row engine
-- http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/FT/FT1926/12/915-1.jpg
-- http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/FT/FT1926/12/995-2.jpg
-- 3v: http://www.aviastar.org/pictures/france/buscaylet_2.gif

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Salmson-Béchereau Designations - 1923-1925
- Designs for Société des Moteurs Salmson

SB-1 - (??) speculative designation

SB-2 - 1923 single-seat, mid-wing training a/c, x 1
- SB-2: 1 x 120 hp Salmson 1 9AC, span 7.00m

SB-3 - single-seat, single-engine, mid-wing racer, x 1
- SB-3 : 1923, 1 x 520 hp Salmson 18CMb, span 8.16 m
-- SB-3 sometimes listed as 'SB-3a', faired lower struts
- SB-3 bis: 1924 mod., 520 hp Salmson 18CMb, span 10.00 m
-- aka 'SB-3b', long span, 'open' struts, kingpost pylon
- SB-3 ter: 1925 mod., 520 hp Salmson 18CMb, span 8.00 m
-- 3 view: http://atallguy.com/Simple-Multi-View-Plans/B-images/bechereau_sb3ter_3v.jpg
-- SB-3 ter sometimes listed as 'SB-3c'

SB-4 - 1923 monoplane light tourer ('aviette'), x 1
- SB-4: 1 x 16 hp Salmson 3Ad 3-cyl radial, span 8.00 m

SB-5 - 1925 2-seat, high-wing monoplane fighter, x 1
- SB-5: 1 x 520 hp Salmson 1 18CMb radial, span 14.00 m
-- SB-5 entered for 1925 C2 (two seat fighter) contest
-- Wooden construction, cloth-covered, conv. to SB-6

SB-6 - 1925 2-seat, high-wing monoplane fighter,* x 1
- SB-6: 1 x 520 hp Salmson 1 18CMb, span 14.60 m
-- * SB-6 was modified Salmson-Bechereau SB-5 airframe
-- SB-6 entered for 1925 C2 (two seat fighter) contest
-- http://www.aviafrance.com/image.php?im=9041
-- 3 view: http://drawingdatabase.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/bechereau_sb6_3v.jpg

SB-7 - 1925 2-seat,* high-wing monoplane fighter, x 1
- SB-7: 1 x 520 hp Salmson 1 18CMb radial, span 14.00 m
-- SB-7 was a naval carrier fighter version of the SB-5
-- * Listed elsewhere as 'AMBC1', a single-seat fighter

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S.R.A.P. - Société pour la Réalisation d'Avions Prototypes* - 1926-1927

* Paris-based S.R.A.P. is often listed as the 'Société pour la Réalisation d'Appareils'. Flight truncated the name as 'Société pour la Réalisation d'Avions'. However, 'Prototypes' seems important as it suggests that S.R.A.P. did not intend to manufacture aircraft designs in series. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1926/1926 - 0915.html

S.R.A.P. 2 - 1926 vers. of Salmson-Béchereau 6 monoplane fighter (above)
- S.R.A.P. 2: Designation is probably a corruption of 'S.R.A.P. C.2'

S.R.A.P. T.7 - 1927 2-bay biplane, commercial a/c (2 + 7), x 1
- S.R.A.P. T.7: 1 x 520 hp Salmson 18CMb radial, span 16.90 m
-- aka Béchereau S.R.A.P. T.7 or Salmson-Béchereau S.R.A.P. T.7
-- http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/FT/FT1926/12/915-2.jpg
-- https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1926/1926%20-%200915.PDF

S.R.A.P. T.11 - (Project) 19(??) twin-engined S.R.A.P. T.7 derivative
- S.R.A.P. T.11: 2 x 230 hp Salmson 9 Ab radials, 11 passenger

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Avions Kellner-Béchereau, Billancourt (Paris) - 1934-1942
- Begun by building fuselages for SPAD 510 fighters.

Avions Kellner-Béchereau Designations

Avions Kellner-Béchereau designations had two styles. Experimental types were given 'E' designations. Some are 'missing'. With E.60, I am assuming that the typical French designation style was being applied to what, otherwise, would have been designated 'E.6'.

The Kellner-Béchereau E.4 and E.5 are both listed with secondary letters - ie: EC.4 (or variations) and ED.5. I have no idea what those second letters signified. I must also plead ignorance on the meaning of the suffix on the KB-28VD - 'D' could conceivably refer to the Delage powerplant ... but the 'V'? Could it be something as banal as vite?

Planned production types were given 'KB' designations with a number sequence beginning with '23'. Béchereau's last design for SPAD was the unbuilt S.XXIII which was to feature a turbocharged 300 hp HS 8. (Béchereau's last built SPAD was the sole S.XXII of Nov 1918.) It is a stretch, but my guess is that - for reasons of his own - Béchereau decided to begin the 'KS' designation sequence with '23' as a recycling of that unrealized SPAD S.XXIII.

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Avions Kellner-Béchereau 'E' (Expérimental) Designations

E-1 -- 1936 single-seat mid-wing monoplane light a/c*, x 1
- E-1: 1 x 40 hp Train 4T inverted 4-cyl.; span 6.50 m
-- * E-1 experimental to test Béchereau's 'sliding' wing**
-- ** A fully-slotted wing akin to the Junkers 'double wing'
-- E.1 of wooden construction (plywood-covered spruce frames)
-- http://www.aviafrance.com/kellner-bechereau-e-1-aviation-france-9053.htm
-- http://www.airwar.ru/image/i/law1/e1-i.jpg

E-2 -- (Project) 2-seat deriv. of the single-seat E-1
-- A metal-construction development was also proposed

E-3 -- 1936 Société Française du Duralumin contest entrant
- EC-3: 1937 wooden 'flying mockup'; 1 x 60 hp Train 6T*
- E-3 : 1938 all-metal constr.; 1 x 60 hp Train 6T 6-cylinder
-- * EC-3 redes. ED-5 (below); demonstrated 'sliding' wing

E-4 -- 1937 enlarged, side-by-side 2-seat E-1 development, x 1
- E-4: 1 x 60 hp Train 6T inverted inline 6-cylinder; span 8.80 m*
-- * Avia France lists 90 hp Régnier 4Ec and a 9.13 m span (?)
-- E.4 intended for the Aviation Populaire training program
-- http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/law1/e4/e4-1.jpg
-- aka EC.4; sometimes listed as EC4, C4E, or CE4

E-5 -- 1936 Société Française du Duralumin contest entrant
- ED-5: 1937 wooden 'flying mockup'; redesignated EC-3 (qv)
- E-5 : 1938 metal construction; span 8.80 m; 1 x prototype
-- Both powered by 60 hp Train 6T air-cooled inverted 6-cyl
-- 3-view: http://www.the-blueprints.com/bluep...nes/modern-jk/kellner_bechereau_e_5-18389.jpg
E-60 - 1940 single-seat recce aircraft/fighter-trainer, x 1
- E-60: 1 x 62 hp Walter Mikron II, first flew 07 March 1940
-- Tested as a 'monoplace d'observation' for Aéronavale
-- Wooden constr., mid-wing monoplane, aka 'K.B.E 60'
-- http://www.pyperpote.tonsite.biz/pages/kellner_bechereau_e60pag.html
-- 3-view: http://atallguy.com/Simple-Multi-View-Plans/K-images/kellner_e60_3v.jpg
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Avions Kellner-Béchereau 'KB' Designations

KB-23 - 1932 low-wing monoplane 2-seat-tourer; 1 built (F-AKGH)
- KB-23: Side-by-side; 1 x 95 hp Salmson 7Ac radial; span 14.00 m

KB-24-KB-27 - (??) speculative designations

KB-28 - low-wing monoplane racer for 1933 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe*
-- * Or as pursuit study, NACA Technical Memorandum No.724, pg.1
-- http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930094693.pdf
- KB-28: 1 x 420 hp Delage 12CEDirs inverted V-12 engine;* span 6.60 m
-- * Delage 12 CEDirs engine developed specifically for the KB-28VD
-- aka Kellner-Béchereau 28VD
-- http://www.aviafrance.com/kellner-bechereau-28vd-aviation-france-891.htm
-- 3 view: http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/law1/kb28/kb28-1.gif
-- Photo : http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/law1/kb28/kb28-4.jpg
-- Photo : http://www.aviastar.org/pictures/france/kellner_ud.jpg

KB-29 - (Project) 1930 single-seat fighter project, KB-28 deriv.
- KB-29: 1 x 450 hp Delage 12 Gvis inverted V12; 1934 C.1 comp.
-- http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,21605.msg214421.html

KB-30 - (Project) single-seat fighter project, KB-28 deriv.
- KB-30: 1 x 500 hp Hispano-Suiza 12; for 1934 C.1 competition
-- http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,21610.0.html

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Undesignated Béchereau Project for AVIA [1]

(??) - (Project) 1932 twin-pusher motorglider
- (??) : Shoulder 'M'-plan wing; 2 x 7 hp pushers
-- Monocoque fuselage; open cockpit; model only
-- To assess potential application to fighters
-- http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,15821.msg134976.html#msg134976
-- http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,15821.msg214233.html#msg214233
-- 3v and model: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k65536639/f16.image.r=l'a%C3%A9rophile.langFR
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[1] Ateliers vosgiens d'industrie aéronautique based at Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in Lorraine.
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[hesham]

Excellent work as usual my dear Apophenia,,

ans I can add;

SRAP T.11 was here;
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,15821.msg222263.html#msg222263

For Motoplane,E-2,EC-3,ED-5 and motor glider,this materials from TU 138 will help.

 

[Apophenia]

Many thanks Hesham, this was very useful. Some additions and corrections have been made.

Below are some 'massaged' machine translations of your scanned texts (apologies to all proficients in French). I've added some explanatory bits as insertions and footnotes.

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Kellner-Béchereau E-1, E-2

First practical application of the 'sliding' wing ("l'aile à tiroir", the E-1 was presented to Salon 1936. [1] Covering an area of 5 m2, the wing was built to the hollow body formula while the fuselage, also made of wood, was a box built around three frames [longerons?]. The engine was a 40 hp 4T Train. The aircraft could take off and land within 40 m at 45 km/h. The machine made its first flight in November 1936 at the hands of Louis Massotte - seconded from Blériot for the occasion.

Two days before the opening of the Salon, the E-1 beat the French over 100 km speed record for aircraft in the lightweight 4th category, flying at 151.07 km/h. On June 7, 1937, G. Duverne [2] beat the over 500 and 1000 km course speed records flying at 154.532 km/h and 153.157 km/h respectively. Returning to Buc, a dry fuel tank forced Duverne to land in a small field, which was realized safely thanks to the sliding wing. On December 30, 1937, Paul Lemée of the Aéro-club de l'Eure, beat the distance record between Eelde, Holland and Biarritz with 1228.5 km in a Groningen.

Despite these brilliant results, the type E-1 remained a unique prototype. Two derivatives appear to have been studied by Béchereau: the E-2 - a two-seat version E-1 - and a derivative of metal construction.

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[1] The 15e Salon d’Aviation held at Paris from 13 to 29 Nov 1936.

[2] Gustave Duverne took over after Louis Massotte was killed in June 1937.

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Kellner-Béchereau EC-3, E-5, E-5

Convinced of an interest in the use of dural for the manufacture of light aircraft, the Société Française du Duralumin opened a private aircraft competition in 1936. Of the 77 proposals presented, three aircraft were constructed for the finals: the Alliet Larivière AL-04 [1] we have already spoken of, the Daspect 3, [2] and the Kellner-Béchereau E-5.

In July 1937, the Kellner-Béchereau company first made a wooden 'mock up' christened ED-5 and fitted with a 60 hp Train 6T engine. This machine, evidently possessing the 'sliding' wing, was presented to the Commission d'Examen du STAé [Service Technique de l'Aéronautique] in late September 1937.

Meanwhile, the final machine of metal construction, designated first EC-3 and later E-5, was assembled in the Kellner workshops at Billancourt. The wing was constructed using the hollow body technique - the rear, movable part being cloth-covered. The monocoque metal fuselage received a 60 hp Train 6T engine.

Exhibited at the 1938 Salon, [3] the aircraft was completed in January 1939. The machine passed CEMA [Centre d'Essais du Matériel Aéronautique] testing in February of the same year. In April, tests for a CNRA [4] began at Orly in the hands of the pilot Seitz. The outbreak of war interrupted all activity and the aircraft was then forgotten.

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[1] AL-04 'Allar' was a 2-seat, twin-boomed pusher
-- http://www.kristofmeunier.fr/r_Alliet-Larivi%C3%A8re_AL-05.JPG
-- http://www.aviafrance.com/alliet-lariviere-allar-4-aviation-france-4683.htm

[2] The Daspect 3 was a single-seat low-wing monoplane pusher
-- http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5495/12255831165_0ba10b1491_b.jpg
-- 3 view:
https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot-restricted/ww2planes/various/daspect_3-46213.jpg

[3] The 16e Salon d’Aviation held at Paris from 25 Nov to 11 Dec 1938.

[4] A Certificat de navigabilité restreint d'aéronef was a Restricted airworthiness certificate issued after examination by the Bureau Veritas and STAé.

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.. of the fighter. Of wooden construction, the 'sliding' wing was built to the hollow body technique. The aircraft was completed in February 1940. François Bruneteau took off at Buc - before the camera - for the first time on March 7, 1940.

At this time, the French Navy was interested in a reconnaissance aircraft that would be invisible at 1500 m altitude. Aéronavale was presented with the aircraft on April 25. Despite the fact that all tests were not completed, the navy accepted the aircraft on May 3.

The aircraft completed its 50th and final test flight on June 3. At the end of that flight, the machine was evacuated by road ahead of the German advance. It was then placed in storage at the Base Aerienne d'Aulnat, near Clermont-Ferrand. In the sixties, a scrap metal dealer bought the wreck without a motor. Interested in Aviation, the scrap dealer warned François Bruneteau who then recovered the machine. Sadly, François Bruneteau died on January 28, 1976. Mme Bruneteau offered the machine to the Musée de l'Air where, after restoration, it can now be admired.

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Like other aviation firms of the time, Béchereau developed a series of type 11A [1] gliders for AVIA [2] intended to sell for 6300 Francs each. In agreement with AVIA, Béchereau studied several gliders then undertook design work.

First, he designed a curiously shaped glider, adopting a double crescent wing destined for a fighter project. Béchereau intended this glider to be of entirely metal construction, but this glider was not realized due to lack of credit.

Béchereau's glider was to have been equipped with two 7 hp engines. This machine would have been the first practical application of the 'sliding' wing. Like many inventions of the time, this 'sliding' wing was intended to increase flight safety by improving lift at large angles of attack. The wing had a fixed front portion - extending over a half of the wing chord - and a tiltable rear section, the moving of which create a vertical slot. Port and starboard movable sections could be moved simultaneously or differentially by means of a lever. The disadvantage of the system was in the training of pilots to use it.

Unfortunately, this glider was never realized. A machine of the same type, but driven by a single 20 hp engine was also designed.

In 1932, an AVIA 32E glider [3] was modified to have a 7 hp engine mounted in the cabin interior, driving two pusher propellers on each side of the fuselage mounted at the wing's trailing edge. This motor-glider modification was intended to test the engine and propeller arrangement for a fighter equipped with the double crescent wing.

The editor does not known whether this modified AVIA 32E actually flew.

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[1] The AVIA 11A (or AVIA XIA) basic training glider was a development of the AVIA XA which was, in turn, one of many contemporary Zögling-clones.

[2] AVIA (Ateliers vosgiens d'industrie aéronautique) based at Saint-Dié-des-Vosges in Lorraine.

[3] The AVIA 32E was a parsol-winged competition sailplane. A derivative of the AVIA 30, the prototype AVIA 32E was built by Kellner-Béchereau in 1931. Wingspan of the AVIA 32E was 15.40 m.

http://www.j2mcl-planeurs.net/dbj2mcl/planeurs-machines/planeur-fiche_0int.php?code=206
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[hesham]

and I can add;

SRAP T.11 was here;
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,15821.msg222263.html#msg222263

Excellent my dear Apophenia,

and please add SRAP T.11.

 

[Apophenia]

Done. Thanks for the nudge, Hesham

So, from that S.R.A.P. T.11 designation and the S.R.A.P. T.7, we can conclude that Béchereau's civil designs for the Société pour la Réalisation d'Avions Prototypes were all based on the number of passengers carried.

 

[Maveric]

Do you have pics from the T.7 and T.11?

 

[Apophenia]

Mav, I'd never heard of the T.11 until Hesham mentioned it. Attached are T.7 images. Sources:

http://www.aviafrance.com/s-r-a-p-t-7-aviation-france-9048.htm
http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft33158.htm

 

[Maveric]

Thanks.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

http://www.avia-it.com/act/biblioteca/periodici/PDF%20Riviste/Ala%20d'Italia/L'ALA%20D'ITALIA%201939%20012.pdf

 

[Apophenia]

Thanks Hesham. That is the Keller-Béchereau E-5 for the 1936 Société Française du Duralumin contest.

 

[Kdmoo]

Another photo of the T.7.

 

[hesham]

From L'Aeronautique 1922,

the Letord-Bechereau LB.2 Model.

 

[hesham]

From L'Air Revue 1937,

the EC.3 drawing and Info.

 

[hesham]

From Onera Archive;

SRAP RN.3 was a three-seat night recce airplane Project of 1929
Salmson-Bechereau Avionnette was a ultra light airplane Project of 1924

 

[Apophenia]

Interesting. Thanks hesham. I suspect that the undesignated avionnette refers to the SB-4 or, perhaps, to a planned derivative.

But what of that submission for the 1928 RN.3 programme? There are plenty of gaps between the SRAP T.7 and T.11. I'm thinking that the T.7 might have formed the basis for a 3-seat nocturnal recce aircraft.

 

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Apophenia,

and I agree about SB.4,but for T.7 & T.11,they were allocated as a number of seats,so the RN.3 was not related to "T".

 

[Apophenia]

and I agree about SB.4,but for T.7 & T.11,they were allocated as a number of seats,so the RN.3 was not related to "T".

Oops! I'd forgotten that those designations were Transport/Passengers So, the designation for this submission to the 1928 RN.3 programme remains a mystery.

 

[hesham]

Salmson-Bechereau Avionnette was a ultra light airplane Project of 1924

Maybe the solution in reply # 3 ?.

 

[hesham]

From Docavia No.9.