| Hanriot HD.1 | |
|---|---|
 Swiss HD.1 in a museum | |
| General information | |
| Type | Biplanefighter aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Hanriot |
| Designer | |
| Primary users | Corpo Aeronautico Militare |
| Number built | about 1,200 |
| History | |
| Introduction date | June 1916[1] |
| Variants | Hanriot HD.2 |
TheHanriot HD.1 is a FrenchWorld War I single-seat fighter aircraft. Rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of theSPAD S.VII, the type was supplied to theAviation Militaire Belge (Belgian Military Aviation) and theCorpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) of theRoyal Italian Army, with both of which it proved highly successful.[1] Of a total of about 1,200 examples built, 831 were produced by Italian companies underlicence.
TheHanriot company produced a series of pioneering monoplanes pre-war but had settled down as a licence manufacturer, notably ofSopwith 1½ strutters, when the HD.1 was produced in 1916. The type was a conventional fighter with the general characteristics of a typical Sopwith aircraft, being strongly but lightly built and combining clean lines with a lightwing loading. It used the same "1½" (or "W")cabane strut arrangement as the Sopwith two-seater. It had a flat lower wing, though the top wing had quite sharpdihedral.[2]
On the power of its 110 hp (82 kW)Le Rhonerotary engine it was not outstandingly fast but it was very manoeuvrable and proved popular with pilots as a safe and pleasant aircraft to fly. To maintain a competitive climbing and altitude performance it was usual practice to restrict armament to onesynchronisedVickers machine gun, although there was provision for a second gun and one was occasionally fitted. In French-built aircraft the gun (or guns) were fitted to the sides of the cockpit and were accessible to the pilot without their butts being in front of his face in the event of a crash – an unusual but welcome feature, even if its origins lay in the form of the cabane struts. Italian-built versions mounted one machine gun centrally. The type was also produced by theNieuport-Macchi company of Varese, Italy, which built almost 900 HD.1s between 1917 and 1919; more than the parent firm.[1]
The new type was ordered into production as a possible replacement for theNieuport 17 but became "superfluous" when it was decided to replace the Nieuport with the SPAD S.7 in the French air service. Some were supplied to theFrench Navy, a few of which were eventually passed to theU.S. Navy – some naval Hanriots were converted to or built asfloatplanes with enlarged tail surfaces.
The bulk of early production was supplied to the Belgians, who notoriously had to make do with Allied cast-offs. With the Belgian fighter squadrons the HD.1 proved surprisingly successful and the type remained the standard Belgian fighter for the rest of the war.Willy Coppens, the top Belgianace of the war, was the most successful HD.1 pilot.[1] At least one of his machines was experimentally fitted with an 0.43 in (11 mm) Vickers machine-gun for use in balloon busting, something at which Coppens excelled. Most of his victories were balloons and many were claimed while flying HD.1s. These aircraft remained in use until the late 1920s.
The type was also supplied in small numbers to the Italians, who manufactured it in quantity and used it to replace Nieuports and SPADs. The type was considered (by the Italians) to be a better all-round fighter than even theSPAD S.XIII and it became the standard Italian fighter, equipping 16 of the 18 operational Italian fighter squadrons by November 1918. Surplus Italian-built Hanriots were used by several countries postwar, including theSwiss.
The U.S.Naval Aircraft Factory built (or possibly modified/converted) 10 HD.1s in the immediate postwar years. These were mainly used astrainers, although they were also involved in experiments with take-off platforms on warships – they could be fitted with twin guns and at least one machine had a hydrovane and flotation bags of the type developed for theRoyal Navy.
Five examples of the HD.1 are preserved in museums in Europe and the US:
Data fromJane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide[1]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Related lists
