Hanriot HD.1

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name = Hanriot HD.1
type = Biplane fighter aircraft
manufacturer = Hanriot



caption = Swiss HD.1 in a museum
designer = Pierre Dupont
first flight =
introduced = June avyear|1916Holmes, 2005. p 31.]
retired =
status =
primary user = "Corpo Aeronautico Militare"
more users = "Aviation Militaire Belge"
produced =
number built = about 1200
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =The Hanriot HD.1 was a French World War I single seat fighter. Rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of the SPAD S.7, the type was supplied to the Belgians and the Italians with whom it proved highly successful. 831 of a total production of about 1200 were in fact produced by Italian companies under licence.

Development and Production

The Hanriot company produced a series of pioneering monoplanes pre-war, but had settled down as a licence manufacturer, notably of Sopwith 1½ strutters, when the HD.1 was produced in 1916.

The type was a conventional fighter much like the Sopwith, being strongly but lightly built, and combining clean lines with a light wing loading. In particular, it used the same “1½” (or "W") cabane strut arrangement as the Sopwith two seater. It had a flat lower wing – but the top wing had quite sharp dihedral.

On the power of its 110 hp Le Rhone rotary it was not outstandingly fast, but it was very manoeverable and proved popular with its pilots as a safe and pleasant aircraft to fly. To maintain a competitive climbing and altitude performance it proved necessary to restrict armament to a single synchronised Vickers gun, although two could be fitted, and occasionally were. The gun(s) were fitted to the side of the cockpit, and were accessible to the pilot without the butts being directly in front of his face in the event of a crash - an unusual but welcome feature.

The type was also produced by the Nieuport-Macchi company of Varese, Italy, which built almost 900 aircraft between 1917 and 1919, more HD.1s than the parent firm.

Operational career

The new type was ordered into production as a possible replacement for the Nieuport 17, but became “surplus” when it was decided to replace the Nieuport with the SPAD S.7 in the French air service. Some were supplied to the French Navy, a few of which were eventually passed to the U.S. Navy – some naval Hanriots were converted to, or built as, floatplanes - with enlarged tail surfaces.

The bulk of early production, however, was diverted to the Belgians, who notoriously had to make do with aircraft unwanted by their allies. 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 Belgian ace of the war was the most successful HD.1 pilot.

The type was also supplied in small numbers to the Italians – who manufactured it in quantity and used it to replace not only Nieuports but even SPADs in their service. The type was considered (by the Italians) to be a better all-round fighter than even the SPAD S.XIII and it became the standard Italian fighter – equipping 16 of the 18 operational Italian fighter squadrons by November 1918.

After the war the Swiss Air Force used Hanriot HD.1s - and ten were built (or possibly modified/converted) by the U.S. Naval Aircraft Factory. The U.S. Navy machines were mainly used as trainers, although they were also involved in experiments with takeoff 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 the Royal Navy (see illustration).

Accidents and incidents

* August 24 1938 - Ōmori air disaster: a Japanese Flying School Hanriot HD.1 and a Japan Airlines Transportation Universal collide over Ōmori,Tokyo near Haneda killing the five crew, and 40 people on the ground.Fact|date=December 2007

Operators

;BEL;FRA;flag|Italy|1861;flag|Paraguay: Three aircraft only.;flag|Switzerland;USA:United States Navy

pecifications (HD.1)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Holmes, 2005. p 31.
crew=one, pilot
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 5.85 m
length alt=19 ft 2 in
span main= 8.70 m
span alt=25 ft 6 in
height main= 2.94 m
height alt=9 ft 7.5 in
area main= 18 m²
area alt=193.7 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 407 kg
empty weight alt=895 lb
loaded weight main= 605 kg
loaded weight alt=1,331 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=652
max takeoff weight alt=1437
more general=
engine (prop)= Le Rhône 9J
type of prop= rotary engine
number of props=1
power main= 81 kW
power alt= 110 hp
power original=
max speed main=184 km/h
max speed alt=99 knots, 114 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 550 km
range alt=297 nm, 342 mi
ceiling main= 6,400 m
ceiling alt=21,000 ft
climb rate main= 5.1 mins to 2,000 m (7,600 ft); 11 mins to 3,000 m
climb rate alt=9,840 ft
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
* 1 × or 2 × Vickers machine gun (7.7 mm)
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
lists=
* List of military aircraft of France
* List of fighter aircraft
see also=

References

* Cheesman E.F. (ed.) "Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War" Letchworth, Harletford Publications, 1960 pp. 82-83
*

External links

* [http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/ViewEntry.asp?EntryId=1300651 HANRIOT HD 1 shown in Belgique maximum card]