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Engineer and pilot Jean Lignel created the Société Française de Constructions Aéronautiques (S.F.C.A.) in 1934, becoming its president and C.E.O. in 1941.
In the beginning, Lignel had an arrangement with Blériot to have his aircraft built at the company's facilities in Suresnes, near Paris. However, when Blériot becomes nationalized in 1936, Lignel made sure to gain his independence, and took with him the Blériot employees who had worked on his aircraft.
Lignel brought two major innovations to aviation: the first retractable gear on a French aircraft, and the first aircraft to use the Brodeau method of plywood and cork fuselage molding.
In 1939, he created the S.A.C.A. (Société Algérienne de Construction Aéronautiques), the first aircraft factory on the African continent. Lignel fled to Algeria at the outbreak of the war. All remaining S.F.C.A. aircraft were ordered to be in destroyed in 1943 at the Aire-sur-l'Adour airfield. In 1946, Lignel founded Air Algérie, the national airline of what was then a French territory.
After returning to metropolitan France, Lignel resumed the activities of the S.F.C.A. Although the company was still active into the 1970s, with Lignel still managing it (he passed in 2002), it only enjoyed less than two decades of aircraft production. Between 1934 and 1950, the S.F.C.A. essentially developed three lines of aircraft:
Peyret developments
In the beginning, Lignel had an arrangement with Blériot to have his aircraft built at the company's facilities in Suresnes, near Paris. However, when Blériot becomes nationalized in 1936, Lignel made sure to gain his independence, and took with him the Blériot employees who had worked on his aircraft.
Lignel brought two major innovations to aviation: the first retractable gear on a French aircraft, and the first aircraft to use the Brodeau method of plywood and cork fuselage molding.
In 1939, he created the S.A.C.A. (Société Algérienne de Construction Aéronautiques), the first aircraft factory on the African continent. Lignel fled to Algeria at the outbreak of the war. All remaining S.F.C.A. aircraft were ordered to be in destroyed in 1943 at the Aire-sur-l'Adour airfield. In 1946, Lignel founded Air Algérie, the national airline of what was then a French territory.
After returning to metropolitan France, Lignel resumed the activities of the S.F.C.A. Although the company was still active into the 1970s, with Lignel still managing it (he passed in 2002), it only enjoyed less than two decades of aircraft production. Between 1934 and 1950, the S.F.C.A. essentially developed three lines of aircraft:
- Tandem monoplane types developed from the Peyret-Nessler Type VI prototype, of which Lignel acquired the rights after Peyret's passing.
- Low-wing monoplane tourism and multipurpose aircraft developed from the Maillet MN-A prototype, which Maillet and Nennig developed in 1933.
- Low-wing monoplane racers developed by Lignel himself.
Peyret developments
- Peyret-Nessler VI (1929): single-seat open tandem monoplane prototype with a 28 hp ABC "Scorpion" engine, developed and built by Louis Peyret and Éric Nessler prior to S.F.C.A. involvement.
- Peyret "Le Taupin" (1936): single-seat open tandem monoplane prototype powered by a 28 hp Poinsard B engine. It was registered as F-AOJU (n° 1). Note that Louis Peyret had passed, and Lignel decided to apply the name "Peyret" to the "Taupin" line of aircraft in his honour.
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Peyret "Taupin (3/2)" (1936): production version, using a 32 hp Mengin 2A-01 engine. 48 were built, the first two being F-AOJU (n° 2, ex-n° 1) and F-AONO (n° 3). A Minié 4Bo engine was also tested in 1938. - Peyret "Taupin 5/2" (1937): side-by-side seating version using a 74 hp Régnier 4D-2 engine. A 90 hp Régnier and a 60 hp Train 6T (6-cylinder) were also tested. Only 4 were built, including F-APAC, F-APAP?, F-AZBG, F-BAIA. The first of this was accidentally destroyed on the ground, while the fourth was hidden during wartime and registered after war, being reengined in 1953 with a Continental A-65.
- Lignel 44 "Cross Country" (1946): last of the Taupin lineage, it was a still a two-seater using a 74 hp Régnier 4D-2 engine but had an enclosed cockpit. Only one built: F-WAIC > F-BAIC > F-PAIC (n° 01), which crashed fatally in 1955.
- Maillet-Nennig MN Type A (or MN-A) (1933): multipurpose three-seater low-wing monoplane with a 180 hp Régnier R6-001 engine. Only one was built by André Maillet and Edmond Nennig prior to S.F.C.A. involvement, and registered as F-AMUT (n° 01).
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Maillet-Nennig 20 T3 (or S.F.C.A.20) (1935): second prototype similar to the first, and also powered by a 180 hp Régnier R6-001. One built by Lignel: F-ANQY (n° 1) by special arrangement at Blériot's Suresnes works. -
Maillet-Lignel (S.F.C.A.) ML.20 R2 (1935): special version for records, same engine. The designation "ML" and subsequent use of the Maillet name for the entire lire was a tribute to the designer who had recently passed. Two built: F-AODA (n° 2), F-AOHO (n° 3), also at Blériot. They were the first retractable gear aircraft produced in France. - Maillet 201 ET3 (1937): prototype for the three-seat military trainer version of the ML.20, using the 180 hp Régnier 6B-01 engine variant. One built, registered with the Section d'entrainement du Corps Technique a CT-38 (n° 4).
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Maillet 201 ET3 (1939): three-seat military trainer production version. 31 were built, receiving serial numbers I-002 to -0031 (n° 6/35). Note that there was no c/n 5 as that was a distinct Lignel prototype. - Maillet 202 ET2 (193?): two-seat advanced trainer version developed by Lignel; not proceeded with, but evolved into the Lignel 16.
- Maillet 205 ET2 (193?): variant with double-controls and raised cockpit; not proceeded with.
- Maillet 21 T3 (1935): first ML.20 in tourism airplane configuration: F-AODA (n° 2).
- Maillet 22 (193?): unbuilt version mentioned in passing, no data.
- Maillet 302 (193?): second ML.20 in tourism airplane configuration: F-AOHO (n° 3).
- Lignel 10 ETC1 (1938): single-seat combat trainer low-wing monoplane prototype with a 220 hp Renault 6Q-03 engine and retractable gear. One built.
- Lignel 16 (160) (193?): development of the Maillet 202 trainer, engine unknown. Not built.
- Lignel 161 (1938): two-seat combat trainer low-wing monoplane prototype with a 220 hp Renault 6Q-03 engine. One built.
- Lignel 16 P2 (1942): two-seat combat trainer low-wing monoplane prototype with a 360 hp Béarn 6C-01 engine. Two built.
- S.F.C.A. 401 P (1939): no data; tested in ONERA wind-tunnel in 1939, and presumably a Maillet development. The suffix letter "P" may suggest a glider.
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Lignel 20 "La Foudre" (1937): single-seat low-wing monoplane racer with a 220 hp Renault 6Q-03 engine and retractable gear, meant for the 1937 Coupe Deutsch, which was eventually cancelled. Two built. -
Lignel 20 F (1936): unbuilt version with reduced wing area. - Lignel 20 S "L'Éclair" (1937): former n°2 Lignel 20 repowered with a 400 hp Régnier R 161-01 engine.
- Lignel 20 (193?): one of the Lignel 20 aircraft repowered with a 420 hp Chaumont I-shaped 12-cylinder engine. Mentioned by Lignel himself in 1940.
- Lignel 30 "Mistral" (1938): single-seat low-wing monoplane racer for the 1938 Coupe Deutsch, with wood and cork construction; was supposed to use the 420 hp Régnier 12H-00 engine. Two airframes built, one shown with mock engine at the 1938 Paris Salon. The Cup was eventually cancelled and the engine was not ready anyway.
- Lignel 31 "Mistral" (1939): former Lignel 30 powered by a 220 hp Renault 6Q-03 for tests, but meant to use a Béarn 480 hp "Chaumont Grand Sport" engine for the 1939 Coupe Deutsch. The Cup was again cancelled, and the prototype was destroyed in flight, ejecting the pilot to safety.
- Lignel 32 (1939): unknown variant tested in the ONERA wind tunnel.
- Lignel 40 (1938): lightweight fighter project using a 350 hp Béarn 6C engine; full-scale mockup built, and smaller scale model tested in the ONERA wind tunnel.
- Lignel 51 (1939): unspecified performance aircraft using an 8-liter Régnier engine and planned for 500 kms/h speed.
- Morane-Saulnier MS.315 (1938): Lignel was supposed to produce 310 aircraft under subcontract by request of the Air Ministry, but the war put an end to it.
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L.46 "Coach" (1947): four-seat low-wing monoplane tourism aircraft with a190 hp Mathis G.8R engine. Two built, registered F-BCZJ (n° 01), F-BCFS (n° 02), but eventually scrapped following the ban imposed on Mathis engines. - V.E.M.A.-51 (1950): the Italian Macchi MB.320 small executive cabin transport with a 184 hp Continental E-185 engine; rights acquired by Lignel, but local production never materialized. Three Macchi-produced aircraft acquired for promotion and testing, including F-OAHN > F-BDHN (n° 01). ("V.E.M.A." meant "Vente et Exportation de Matériel Aéronautique").
- Rights to the Macchi MB.308 high-wing tourism monoplane were also said to have been acquired by Lignel, but nothing came of it.
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