TheSociété des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as theAssociation Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for the military in bothWorld War I andWorld War II. From 1933 onwards, it was a subsidiary ofRenault.
Born inFavières, Somme to parents who farmed nearby inRomiotte, the Caudron brothers were educated at a college inAbbeville. Gaston, as Alphonse was always known, intended to become an engineer but his education was cut short by health problems; René was interested in the development of mechanics and was a sportsman. After military service in an artillery regiment, they returned to work on the farm.[1]
They began to build their first aircraft, a largebiplane, in August 1908. Initially unable to obtain an engine, they flew it as a glider, towed by a horse, and tested it through the summer. In September 1909, they finally flew it under power. By April 1910, they were able to make a return flight of 10 km (6 mi) toForest-Montiers.[1]
Gaston Caudron died in an aircraft accident on 15 December 1915 at the airfield atBron.[2] René continued in the aircraft business until thefall of France at the start ofWorld War II. He died in 1959.[3]
Needing a more convenient base than the farm, the brothers established their factory in nearbyLe Crotoy, on the eastern side of theSomme estuary about 16 km (10 mi) from Abbeville and with a broad, flat, firm, south facing beach ideal for flying. They set up a flying school there[1] which was functioning by 19 May 1910.[4] This activity flourished and by early 1913 a second school had been set up atPort-Aviation (often called "Juvisy Airfield") inViry-Châtillon with a combined capacity of 100 to 250.[5] The War Ministry sent about 30 student pilots there in 1913.[citation needed] By then the company was based atRue, Somme.[5] During World War I, the company moved its production toLyon andIssy-les-Moulineaux, as the Somme plant was too close to the battle front.[6]
Designers of many aircraft like the two-seaterCaudron G.3 that successfully landed onMont Blanc in 1921, Caudron produced thetrainers in which thousands of pilots got their first flying licence. The Caudron plants at Lyon and Issy-les-Moulineaux produced nearly 4,000 airplanes during World War I.[citation needed] In 1920, the Lyon plant stopped assembling and the Issy-les-Moulineaux site was consolidated as the headquarters and main production base.[6] In 1933, Caudron was acquired byRenault, following pressure from the French Air Ministry, which was seeking consolidation in the aircraft industry. At the time, Renault was increasing its involvement in the aviation field.[7][8][9] Renault took a controlling 55% stake while René Caudron kept the remaining 45%.[6] both the Société des Avions Caudron and Renault's aircraft engine branch were integrated into the Renault Aviation division led byFrançois Lehideux (as top manager),Marcel Riffard (as aircraft body chief designer) and Charles-Edmond Serre (aircraft engine chief designer).[6][8] The Issy-les-Moulineaux plant improved synergies with the Billancourt engine plant, as both were in the Paris area. In 1937, Renault bought out René Caudron's minority stake.[6]
As part of Renault, Caudron centred on producing light, sportier aircraft powered by eitherinline-four orinline-six cylinder engines, mirroring its automotive range at the time.[9] Riffard was an expert on streamlined designs, which helped to achieve good speeds on low power.[6][8] Caudron-Renault aircraft set several records in the 1930s.[10] In August 1934,Hélène Boucher, on board herC 450, achieved the world record average speed for 100 kilometres, 1000 kilometres, and the world female speed record.[6][8] In December 1934,Raymond Delmotte got a land aircraft world speed record of 505 km/h on board hisC 460.[6][8][11] According toPopular Aviation, by November 1935 Caudron-Renault was producing the following models: theC 272-3Luciole (2-seat light biplane aircraft), theC 282-8Phalene VIII (4-seat light monoplane), theC 360 (monoplane),the C 366Atalante (a monoplane based on an earlier model), theC 440 (twin-engined low-wing cabin monoplane), the C 450 (1-seat racing monoplane), the C 460 (1-seat racing monoplane) and theC 530Rafale (high-performance, 2-seat light monoplane).[12]
By 1936, Renault was hit by theGreat Depression and, in 1938, it spun off Caudron-Renault into a separate, autonomous subsidiary in order to focus on its core automotive business.[7] After France was occupied byNazi Germany during World War II, Caudron-Renault produced trainers, auto bodies,Messerschmitt aircraft parts,[13]Messerschmitt Bf 108s[14] the Caudron's Simoun and Goéland ranges, theSiebel Si-204,[6] for theWehrmacht. It also repaired aircraft.[13] In February 1942,Willy Messerschmitt requested that Caudron produce theMesserschmitt Me 164, a Si-104 rival, but that was sabotaged.[14] The Issy-les-Moulineaux plant was almost completely destroyed byRAF andAAF bombings that took place in September 1943, leaving it permanently out of production.[13] In 1944, the remaining Caudron-Renault operations were nationalised by the French government and became part of the Société Nationale de Construction aéronautique du Centre.[6]
(Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères /Société des avions Caudron)
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