Aircraft Books - France - History, Types and Construction

French Aeroplanes Before the Great War

A catalog of the aeroplanes of the nearly 700 French builders who worked before the onset of World War I. Most of these aeroplanes flew - some did not - some were never even finished - but all of them reflect the extraordinary vitality and sense of optimism that powered the aeronautical world before the future of the aeroplane began to become clearer in wartime.

If the Wrights had not flown in 1903, one of the early French builders would very quickly have won the laurels for the first flight. Some of the machines appear in these pages probably for the first time in print; others are rarely seen.

This collection serves as a kind of super Exposition Internationale de Locomotion Aérienne; readers are invited to enter the Grand Palais, as they might have in 1908 or 1909, to enjoy these marvelous aircraft.

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Early French Aviation, 1905-1930 (Images of Aviation)

France has been called the cradle of aviation by many - a fact that cannot be disputed, although some have tried. By the end of the 19th century, she led the world in lighter-than-air flight. Any concern about heavier-than-air flight was dismissed as inevitable, and France would achieve it in due course.
By the time Blériot bravely enquired 'Which way is England?' the country was ready to redress any perceived shortfall. Besides leading European aviation, France was the nation that named all the parts of an aeroplane with words many of which we still use everywhere today.

France was also the first nation to stage air exhibitions. Unlike their counterparts in Britain, Germany and America, French designers were thoroughly entrepreneurial and tried a wide variety of adventurous styles from pusher to canard and monoplane to multiplane.
In 1909 the first Air Show was held at the Grand Palais. The 'Exposition Internationale de locomotion aérienne' ushered in what was to become an enduring tradition. Every year, the aircraft exhibitions were a massive success.

It is not surprising that all this derring-do, all these technological achievements and all this innovation drew reporters and photographers like moths to a flame. The men, the machines, the places and the events all were recorded, reported, reproduced and then were filed away.
Hundreds of images appeared in print, but thousands were printed up only as contact prints from large-format glass negatives and then disappeared into albums to be forgotten about.

In the mid-1990s the author came across one such treasure-trove; a number of dust-covered albums containing around five hundred images of aircraft, airships and expositions - it is doubtful if most have appeared in print before, so this will probably be the first time the events of these French pioneers have ever been showcased.

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From the Voisin to the Mirage : 100 Years of French Aeronautic Presence in Peru

From the very beginning of aviation in South America, French aircraft and aviators played a major part in the development of military flying in Peru.

This book covers the use of French aircraft and the involvement of French designers, instructors and military thinking in the development of the Peruvian air force. From 'stick and string' biplanes through to supersonic jets, many of the most significant French types saw service in Peru and were involved in local conflicts, as detailed in this book.

Profusely illustrated with many rare photographs and colour profiles of selected aircraft in Peruvian markings.

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Lorraine-Dietrich - De la voiture de grand luxe au géant de l'aéronautique (Collection Prestige)

Creator of luxury cars and host of the Grand Prix during the Belle Epoque, internationally renowned aeronautical engine manufacturer and double winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans during the Roaring Twenties, at the origin of a giant aviation consortium and manufacturer of torpedo boats in the 1930s...
Here are some of the many facets of the Lorraine-Dietrich company, whose history is told in this book for the first time in an exhaustive manner.

The story thus covers all the productions that have worn the Cross of Lorraine, and it gives pride of place to the main protagonists, Adrien de Turckheim, Léon Turcat, Charles Nicaise, Marius Barbarou, Claude Bonnier, without forgetting the little-known involvement of the engineers Giustino Cattaneo, Louis de Groulart, Lucien Sabathier, Giulio Cesare Cappa, Lucien Fabre, Charles Picker and Albert Lory.

To be complete, the portrait of Lorraine-Dietrich is enriched by that of its subsidiaries: Isotta Fraschini, Lorraine-Dietrich Ltd., Clément-Bayard, Industria Aeronautica Romana (IAR), the ambitious Société Générale Aéronautique (SGA), and finally Aero-Marine Engines Ltd.

The final period traces the nationalization with the Société Nationale de Construction de Moteurs (SNCM), the occupation of the factory by BMW during the war, then the reconversion with SNECMA before the disappearance of the company in 1951.

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