Reluctant to spend too much on an engine that might not be powerful enough, we decided to build a smaller aircraft equipped with an Anzani of 25 hp. We started the construction on 15 July 1909, myself, my brother and a very capable carpenter, a man who is now our works superintendent. On the 21st September, after a few trials I flew four times 1 kilometre in a straight line; the following day, full of confidence, I flew over the countryside, but I had no experience, I tried a few turns, but in a gust of wind a bit too strong, I stalled at about 20 high. I was unhurt, but the aircraft was in a terrible state. We repaired it, and I started again.

The landing system was on a skid. Two wheels fixed rigidly drop below the skid only the thickness of their tyres, and serve only for the take-off. The greatest peculiarity of the aircraft was it's use of supple wings, their camber being eliminated under the pressure of the air. It is thanks to this peculiarity that we believe we obtained such good results, a high speed with a low powered engine" This interview followed the flights at Paris-Plage and the meeting at Asnière.

The legendary "Luciole"

Where did the name "Luciole" come from ? Every body knows the luminous night insect; Well no ! They took the name of the brave mare, Luciole that pulled their very first aircraft into the air ! Of course there were misses, but she was at the beginning of ten to twelve flights at a height of 10 to 15 metres !

The engine !

A RUE, The Company developed, reaching 50 employees. Financial highs and lows punctuated the following years. C.G4

First orders

A few sales to private individuals were not sufficient to develop the Company. After the meeting in Monaco in 1912 they received an order from the French Navy for two seaplanes, the French War Ministry then sending about thirty recruits to Crotoy, purchased a few biplanes of 50 hp. at the end of June 1912, the Caudron brothers sold to China, a squadron of 12 two seat aircraft, and René went to China to set up the squadron ( June 1913 ). He was rewarded by the Chinese Government with the medal of the Golden Sword, and on his return to Paris the French Government awarded him the Croix des Braves, then La Légion d'Honneur.

It is to be noted that at the meeting in Monaco in 1912 they flew for the first time ever, an amphibian ( floats and wheels )

C. G3

At Blériot, Spad, Sanchez-Besa the G.3s are built and soon the twin engine G.4. On the 1st August 1914 René Caudron is mobilised. Then Gaston joined his brother at Reims, as lieutenant. The approach of the enemy armies causes the factory at Rue; Gaston obtained a deferment, moved the factory to Lyon ( Chemin des Alouettes ).

17.000 pilots were trained on the Caudron G.3, as many foreign pilots as French. Extremely manoeuvrable, an excellent glider, the G.3 was the perfect trainer. during the war 1423 G.3s were built. As anecdote, note that in March 1915, this little aircraft had rendered such service, especially as artillery spotter, that the general Staff decided to keep it as one of only four types for the fifth arm.

The details of the G.3 are as follows: Two-seat biplane, upper wing span 13,40 m lower wing span 10,05 m ; wing surface 27 m2; empty weight with engine Rhône of 80 hp, 340 kg; with engine Anzani of 100 hp, 418 kg; speed 112 km/h; duration : 4 hours; radius of action about 405 km.

We will not give here all the names of the "Aces" who were trained on the G.3, but we will give one or two exploits of this tiny aircraft: First long duration record taken from the Germans, 16h 28 min ( pilot Poulet May 1914 ); first looping by a bi-plane 17/12/1913 by the pilot Chanteloup; Jules Védrines landed one on the terrace of the store "Galeries Lafayette" in Paris ! ! , in January 1919, the pilot Durafour landed one on the summit of Mont Blanc; Adrienne Bolland crossed the Cordillères des Andes in a G.3.

R4

During the war the factory at Lyon was not big enough to keep up with production needs, although Gaston had enlarged it. On the 1st November 1915, on the proposition of Cdt Destouches, René Caudron is recalled to build a new factory at Issy-Les-Moulineaux , where later, Voisin et Nieuport will be installed.

In 1916 - 1917 1256 aircraft come off the Caudron production lines. Note that Gaston managed the factory at Lyon and René the factory at Issy-Les-Moulineaux.

An anecdote ; On the 31st August 1914 Gaston Caudron had brought his aircraft back to Issy-Les-Moulineaux full of bullet holes, thanks to his courage and calmness. The General Galliéni gave him the citation: " Gaston Caudron - Matricule 811 - sub-lieutenant of the 2nd Aviation Group: has rendered to military aviation the greatest service in building aircraft of a new type, that he knew how to design and perfect by being his own test pilot, thus showing proof of ingenuity and determination. Has insisted, among other things, to fly the aircraft to the front and to fly them in the squadrons. -signed Galliéni."

In effect, Gaston Caudron held firm to presenting his aircraft himself to the pilots at the front.

Black Sunday.

Successively off the production lines came; 1423 G.3, 1.358 G.4, 249 R.4, 512 G.6, 370 R.XI , 54 C.23. All together, 3.966 aircraft were built during the Great War. the factory at Issy covered 9.000 m2 and employed 1.300 workers, with design offices and testing laboratories, now necessary for aircraft construction.

Chanteloup

The two reception pilots were Chanteloup and Poulet. Note in passing that the official date of the first looping was 22.11.1913, in public, at Issy-les-Moulineaux. This famous looping had in fact been done previously before the war at Douai. But, so as not to upset his superiors he asked for it to be hidden, and that he would do it again once he was back in civilian life. On the 14 th July 1914, in front of the President of the Republic, at the meeting of P\'e9ronne, he took with him a passenger, Henry Dudon and looped with him on board, he was thus the first passenger to fly upside down.

Poulet

The last military aircraft was the C.23. So well were they designed they could be used as excellent transport aircraft; Védrines tried out the idea on the line Paris - Brussels. But the idea was abandoned. This however did not stop René Caudron from showing his C.23 at the Salon of 1919 - the first exposition after the War - This superb machine equipped with two Salmsons of 250 hp, was luxurious, proposing 20 spacious places, seats in wicker with thick cushions, smoking area at the front, the interior decorated in blue.

The death of Védrines. r Jules Védrines was the test pilot with Caudron when on the 21 st April 1919, with the engineer Guillain, he took off in a C.23. The objective was Rome, 1.600 litres of fuel. At this era, this quantity of fuel was enormous, but Védrines who knew the machine well, having been the test pilot, took off from Villacoublay without any difficulty. The weather was not good and whilst flying over the Dr\'f4me, one of his engines quit. He was looking for a place to set down when he lost control and crashed at Saint Rambert d'Albon. Both men were killed outright. Védrines was 38 years old.

Records and Difficulties

"The World went wild in 1934 about the record flight London to Melbourne by an English aircraft, but no one remembered the names of the first pioneering flight.

In 1919, POULET and his mechanic BENOIST, flying in courageous stages from Issy-Les-Moulineaux to Melbourne, in a G.4 and in November of the same year in the same type of aircraft, the same crew flew to the land of the tigers, to RANGOON in India"

The demand for aircraft suddenly stopped with the end of hostilities, at Caudron there was left plenty of wood and of course plenty of highly skilled technicians, conversion was obligatory. Thus in 1920 and 1921, they built "tombereaux ", solid two-wheeled wagons for the farm industry. The factory produced over 500 tombereaux and hay wains. As for the mechanics and fitters, they worked in the annexe...repairing the Army's trucks and transport. But only one third of the workforce could be kept on.

Slowly the factory started to build aircraft again. From the factory at Issy came the C.31, the C.33, the C.35, and the C.37.

The C.37, designed as passenger transport was a 6 seat, pulled by three 80 hp Rhône engines. It had a speed of 150 km/h, a speed of which the Company was very proud. then came the C.39, the C.57, the C.59, the C.60, and the C.61. The piano wires were reduced around the fuselage struts and a net increase in speed was achieved.

The C.59 was an excellent training aircraft, two-seat biplane, the engine a Hispano of 180 hp, similar to it's smaller brother the C.60 pulled by a Clerget of 130 hp. The C.59 was a commercial success, 1000 of them were purchased by the Army, and it was sold abroad in large numbers.

Exploits

In April 1921 the chief pilot of Caudron, Poiret, was the uncontested victor at the meeting of Monaco with a C.51 whilst MAICON won the race Monaco - Ajaccio - Monaco in a flying boat C.39 tri-motor, three Clergets of 130 hp.

The same year Poiret won the Coupe Michelin at an average speed of 78 km/h in a C.60 after twelve landings, obligatory in the rules for checks and refuelling.

On the 30 July, the Swiss pilot, Durafour, landed his G.3 on the summit of Mont Blanc and took off again.

In the course of the same year, Adrienne Bolland made a solo crossing of the Cordilli\'e8re of the Andes, first female record flight.

In 1922, Poiret, came first in the race Marseilles - Monaco in a flying boat C.65, then was the victor in Brussels, reserved for touring aircraft, with a C.68.

First Touring Aircraft.

It was on the 28 th of February 1922 that René Caudron brought out his first touring aircraft. This aircraft designed in 1921, had it's development slowed because of it's engine. A 25 hp Anzani pulled this little single-seat biplane, highly manoeuvrable and very economical. Later the engine was replaced by a 50 hp. The newspapers of the time "l'Auto" and "l'Echo des Sports" had their own C.67s. The pilots were André Boillot and Eugène Renaux.

Prototype.

For the Grand Prix of transport aircraft, due to be held from 10 th to 15 th November 1922, the Caudron factories brought out the C.74, enormous four engine aircraft with 300 hp Hispanos. Poirée flew the trials. Taking off from Le Bourget on the 14 th November with the two mechanics, Courcy and Bobillier, Poirée flew in very doubtful weather conditions, he went suddenly out of control just the other side of the Morée. All three were killed outright. The witnesses to this tragic accident spoke of the brand new cabin split open, the cotton fabric showing traces of blood.

In 1923, all was calm, and in 1924, the pilot PATIN took the Coupe Zénith with a C.27. Then it was the time of the newcomers to show their merits, Vanlaére won the touring aircraft competition with a C.128, in October 1925, Bécheler who landed in front of the Grand Palais the opening day of the Salon de L'Aviation.

In 1926, an amateur tourist, Robert Landiech, made the flight Brazzaville - Kotonou, 2.700 km with a C. 60, equipped with a Clerget engine of 130 hp. By the end of 1926, the Caudron factory had resumed full production of aircraft, and brought out in series the C. 59, the C.101, the C. 161 and the first C. 109 which would bring a host of new records to Light Aviation in France the following year. At this time René Caudron had brought out no less than 90 prototypes, the large majority of them at his own expense.

Small aircraft - big records. It is in 1927, a great year for aviation with the crossing of the Atlantic in May by Lindbergh, that the small aircraft started on their big records. One machine was to impose itself among all the other light aircraft, the C. 109, monoplane, two-seat parasol configuration, pulled by an engine of 40 hp.

In the month of August Maurice Finat won the international competition at Zurich, then later, accompanied by Roger Labrie, he beat the World record for light aircraft in a closed circuit, staying in the air for more than 12 hours. ( Circuit laid out around Le Bourget ). the aircraft had not to exceed 350 kg and fly more than the 700 km completed by the Czechoslovakians, holders of the record. Except for the take off, a bit on the delicate side, all went well. René Caudron was there to see. The distance covered was 1400 km !

Many more records were beaten by French pilots, Finat and his wife, by Max Knipping, by Maryse Bastié, by Léna Bernstein, by Raymond Delmotte.

Between 1927 and 1929 the C.109 won an important number of victories. One of the nicest was that of Maryse Bastié staying in the air solo for 26 hours 46 minutes, flying to Koenigsberg, in Prussia.

It is towards the end of 1924 that Raymond Delmotte replaced the old chief pilot Patin at the Caudron factory. We will mention here that one of the closest allies of René Caudron was Gabriel Roumégous who pushed him to bring out aircraft for transport, tourism or the postal service.

In 1928 the factory at Crotoy was abandoned. The school would go to Ambérieu. It was also in the neighbourhood of Versailles that another school would open at Guyancourt. Blériot was at Buc, Morane at Vélizy, Farman at Toussus le Noble. The field had a surface of 27 hectares in 1930. It is from Guyancourt that the "aiglon ", "phalène ", "luciole ", "simoun ", "rafale ", "goéland ", "typhon " would make their first flights.

It is in 1932, having seen a model of a design by the Engineer Riffard, that René Caudron, seeing the smooth flowing lines and looking like good aerodynamics, decided to set him on. It is to him that we owe the fine lines of the racers of the Coupe Deutsch.

In 1933 started the high speed trials following the studies by Riffard. The C. 362, aircraft designed for the Coupe Deutsch, single seat with a 6 litre Renault engine.

In may 1933, Delmotte flew over 100 km at 333,65 km/h; improved the following year by 12 km/h same aircraft and same engine. Then the speeds started to increase: the C.366 a glider identical to the C.362 allowed Massotte to reach an average of 361 km/h over 2000 km.

The "rafale " was to give excellent results at the 12 hours of Angers, at the Coupe Esders over the course Deauville-Cannes-Deauville.

Maurice Arnoux then Hélène Boucher beat record after record. On the 24 th May 1934, Delmotte in the monoplane C. 450 type Coupe Deutsch 1934, fitted with a Renault 6 cylinders of 8 litres supercharged, gave himself the international record for "land" aircraft over 100 km at an average of 431,654 km/h.

The enormous progress in speed was due mainly to the aerodynamics, compressors, variable pitch propellers, retractable undercarriage, and not by the race of the "big engines of 1000 or 1500 hp".

It was at this time that Caudron opened a school at Royan. the student pilots, well before the end of their course would fly the "simoun " !

Two pioneers.

On the 1st July 1933, after long discussions, Louis Renault and René Caudron decided to unite their efforts. François Lehideux was going to follow them. It was a stroke that would revolutionise the aviation industry, both for tourism and speed. Soon 2.000 employees worked at Billancourt and Issy for the aviation branch.

It is at this time that Caudron became CAUDRON-RENAULT.

The constructor/pilot René Caudron flying since 1906, licensed on the 7 August 1910 with the number 180 received the Croix de la Légion d'Honneur in July 1913. In February 1921 he received the Rosette de la Légion d'Honneur.

The "Société Anonyme des avions Caudron" was born on 30 th June 1933. Renault held the majority of the shares, either directly or indirectly. The group Caudron-Renault gave an enormous boost to the growth of French aviation. One of the first objectives was speed.

For the second Coupe Deutsch, two aircraft were built: the C 450 and the C 460. Marcel Riffard designed the structures, Renault designed and supplied the engines ( under the direction of Charles-Edmond Serre ). The C 450 had a fixed undercarriage, the C 460 a retractable undercarriage. On the 27 th May 1934, at Etampes-Mondésir, 4 Caudron-Renault are on the start line.

The pilot Arnoux won the competition with a time of 5 hours 8 min 31 s and an average speed of 389 km/h in the Caudron-Renault C 450. Monville was 3rd , 5 hours 51 min 52 s, averaging 337,230 km/h in the Caudron-Renault C 460. The journalist in

"L'Aérophile" wrote: "From the sporting point of view, Arnoux has beaten, in his personal Farman, the French altitude record for two-seat light aircraft with 6.855 m. He has made a round Europe trip challenging all light aircraft for 1932, and can count, among others, classing third Frenchman and a second place in the Coupe Dunlop, as well as a second place in the Coupe Zénith 1931. Further he has beaten records for speed in single seat over 100 km and in two-seater 100, 500, 1.000 km".

Arnoux had also achieved the average speed of 393,308 km/h over 1.000 km, in this Coupe Deutsch.

Third Coupe Deutsch of the Meurthe.

19 th May 1935.Marcel Riffard prepared the C 560, engine Renault 12 cylinders inverted in V air cooled, 450/475 hp, propeller Ratier, variable pitch. Also there, Delmotte with a Caudron-Simoun, Maurice Arnoux with a Caudron-Rafale. The magazine "L'Auto" wrote: "Feverish preparations, hasty assembly". Five Caudrons are taking part. Five Caudrons are retained by the jury for the final tests.

Only the Renault-Caudrons are retained, so it was won in advance, but the speed was the only real victory.

"L'Auto" of the 20 th May wrote: "The terrible weather of the Saturday made us fear the worst, but the start is given, on time and in the right order. Monville, was too long at the start line and had to change all his spark plugs. He lost 16 minutes. The fastest aircraft were completing their first lap when he took off. After four laps, the pilot Franco abandoned. At the eighth lap, it is Arnoux who has problems of lubrication. He drops out, despite having pushed his machine to 469 km/h on the seventh lap".

End of the first round. Start of the second. 1 o'clock when the last three remaining aircraft receive the order to start. Monville gave his aircraft to Arnoux. A short time after Arnoux came in to land. Delmotte won the competition at an average speed of 443,965 km/h.

Fourth and final Coupe Deutsch.

13 th September 1936. Five Caudron-Renault on the start line: 2 C 461, 1 C 450 , 2 C 560. The differences between these aircraft and those of 1935 lay in the aerodynamics, much improved by the Engineer Riffard and the retractable undercarriages on all the aircraft. Lacombe won the competition at an average of 389,462 km/h. A specialist magazine attributed the lower speeds to the tuning of the engines.

The Coupe Deutsch, the 5th, was never held. It's disappearance was caused by a marked lack of enthusiasm by the constructors, very few in number.

Last great victories.

American Competitions: Greve Trophy and Thompson Trophy. Victory over the Americans was thanks to the pilot Détroyat.

Then it was Hélène Boucher, whose first flight was in a Moth-Gypsy the 15 th June 1931, alas the last flight was on the 30 th November 1934 in a Caudron-Rafale. But they were three years of victories which made her name into a legend. Michel Détroyat taught her aerobatics. She joined the Caudron team. 1934 was her year of glory. The 8 th July 1934, at the 12 hours of Angers which she won in front of 7 men and three women. The 8 th August following, at Istres, in a Caudron N° 13, she won the Coupe Deutsch, 1.000 km at an average of 409,200 km/h. Two days later she beat the female speed record over 3 km , with a speed of 428,223 km/h. The following day she improved on this record, carrying it to 445,028 km/h. Then on the 30 th November 1934 came ...

Maryse Bastié, in a Caudron-Simoun, left Dakar on the 30 th December 1936 and landed in Natal, 3.100 km, at an average speed of 256 km/h beating the record held by Jean Batten. Paris gave her a heroin's welcome.

Maryse Hilsz, with 1.200 parachute jumps, decided to go for the female distance record, held up till now by the American, Amélia Earhard, on the 19 th December 1937, in a Caudron-Simoun of 220 hp. She leaves Istres for Saigon, but bad weather caused her to land at Alexandria. A relative failure, for she leaves again and on the 23 rd, landed at Saigon, beating the record of 10150 km in 92h 31 min, at a speed of 124 km/h, record held by André Japy, but not as good as Amélia Earhard.