Loire Aviation

Last updated
Loire Aviation
Industry Aeronautics, defence
Predecessor Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire
Founded1925
Defunct1935
FateMerged
SuccessorSociété Anonyme Loire-Nieuport
Headquarters,
France
ProductsAircraft
Parent Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire (1925 - 1928)
Wind tunnel model of the Loire 501 Loire 501 mg 7849.jpg
Wind tunnel model of the Loire 501

Loire Aviation was a French aircraft manufacturer in the inter-war period, specializing in seaplanes, and based in Saint-Nazaire, France.

History

Loire was founded in 1925 as a division of Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, a shipbuilding company based at St Nazaire. ACL were interested in diversifying into the new area of naval aviation, combining its knowledge of metal work and naval construction to produce seaplanes for the French mail service. The company started as a joint venture between ACL and Gourdou-Leseurre, contracting to build 257 GL 32’s under licence at a new factory at St Nazaire. In 1928 they disassociated and in 1930 the company became Loire Aviation, working on own designs by designers Asselot, Jarrion, and Guegand Kerguistel. During this period Loire built some 232 units of the Loire 11 seaplane and aircraft for other companies, as well as a range of other aircraft under the Loire marque.

In 1933 the company united with Nieuport (by then known as Nieuport-Astra), though both companies maintained their own factories and test sites; Loire at St Nazaire and La Baule, Nieuport at Issy-les-Moulineaux and Villacoublay. This led to some complications; the two companies found themselves competing over a contract for a fighter for the French Air Force, later won by Morane Saulnier with the MS 406. The two companies underwent a full merger in 1935 to form the Société Anonyme Loire-Nieuport(SALN), or Loire-Nieuport. In 1936 Loire-Nieuport was nationalized and united with Breguet of Bouguenais, near Nantes, to form the Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques de l'Ouest (SNCAO).

Aircraft


Related Research Articles

Aermacchi

Aermacchi was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under licence for the Italian military. With a factory located on the shores of Lake Varese, the firm originally manufactured a series of Nieuport designs, as well as seaplanes.

Nieuport Defunct French aircraft manufacturer

Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.

Aichi Kokuki 1898–1966 aircraft, engine and automobile manufacturer in Japan

Aichi Kokuki KK was a Japanese aircraft manufacturer which produced several designs for the Imperial Japanese Navy. After the war, the company was reorganized as Aichi Machine Industry Co., Ltd (愛知機械工業) where they made small kei cars until 1966 when they were integrated into Nissan and developed the Nissan Sunny and Nissan Vanette.

Caproni Defunct Italian aircraft manufacturer

Caproni, also known as Società de Agostini e Caproni and Società Caproni e Comitti, was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Its main base of operations was at Taliedo, near Linate Airport, on the outskirts of Milan.

SIAI-Marchetti was an Italian aircraft manufacturer primarily active during the interwar period.

French seaplane carrier <i>Commandant Teste</i> French seaplane tender

Commandant Teste was a large seaplane tender of the French Navy built before World War II. She was designed to be as large as possible without counting against the Washington Treaty limits. During the Spanish Civil War, she protected neutral merchant shipping and played a limited role during World War II as she spent the early part of the war in North African waters or acting as an aviation transport between France and North Africa. She was slightly damaged during the British bombardment of the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kébir in July 1940. Commandant Teste was scuttled at Toulon when the Germans invaded Vichy France in November 1942, but was refloated after the war and considered for conversion to an escort or training carrier. Neither proposal was accepted and she was sold for scrap in 1950.

Farman Aviation Works French manufacturer of aircraft and cars

Farman Aviation Works was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rationalization of its aeronautical industry, Farman's assets were assigned to the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre (SNCAC).

The Groupe Latécoère is an aircraft company based in Toulouse, France. Founded by the aeronautics pioneer Pierre-Georges Latécoère during 1917, the company became well known in its first few decades for its range of seaplanes, such as the six-engined Latécoère 631.

<i>Société des Avions Bernard</i> Defunct French aircraft manufacturer

Société des Avions Bernard was a French aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century.

Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (CAMS) was a French manufacturer of flying boats, founded in Saint-Ouen in November 1920 by Lawrence Santoni.

Loire 210 Type of aircraft

The Loire 210 was a French single-seat catapult-launched fighter seaplane designed and built by Loire Aviation for the French Navy.

Loire 501 Type of aircraft

The Loire 501 was a single-engined French liaison and training flying boat of the 1930s produced by Loire Aviation. It was operated by the French Navy, remaining in service until 1940.

Loire-Nieuport 10 Type of aircraft

The Loire-Nieuport 10 was a 1930s French prototype long-range maritime reconnaissance and combat floatplane produced by Loire-Nieuport, a joint venture between Loire Aviation and Nieuport-Delage. It was an attempt to answer the requirements for the Navy's programme Hydravion éclaireur de combat for a large floatplane capable of acting as a torpedo bomber or reconnaissance aircraft.

SNCAO 30 Type of aircraft

The SNCAO 30 was a French single-engined monoplane flying boat two-seat trainer. Although it was ordered into production for the French Navy, only two prototypes were built.