Contents

Chapter 1 1913-1920: La Hispano Suiza V-8 Engines and World War I 1

The Birth of an Aviation Engine 1 The Visit by the Infante 1 First Designs—Initial Development of the V-8 5 Initial Tests 7 Famous Visitors, First Flight, and the Visit of the French Commission Ministerielle 9 Introduction in Paris—Controversy and Success 11 Technical Description—Construction Characteristics 17 First Construction Licenses, and the Big Contract with the French Government 20 The V-8 and the First Steps by the Spanish Aviation Industry 23 CECA and the First Transatlantic Dream 23 The First Translantic Dream 26 Captain Barron and His Airplanes 27 Other Spanish Hispano Suiza V-8-Engined Aircraft 29 Other Spanish Engines—Elizalde and , 1915-1918 30 French and Allied Aircraft Fitted with the New Engine—Synchronized Gun-Propeller Shooting System 33 Synchronized Gun-Propeller Shooting System 33 Evolution of the V-8 : 37 Initial Development 37 The New 180-CV "Surcomprime" 38 The 200-CV Engine with Reduction Gear 41 The 220-CV Engine-and the Moteur-Canon 44 Production of the New Versions in 49 Alfonso XIII and La Hispano Suiza, and the Establishment of La Hispano at Guadalajara 49 Project "Boccaccio," a 400-CV V-16 55 A Higher-Powered V-8: The 300-CV Engine 58 The British, American, and Italian Hispanos, and Other Building Countries 61 The American Hispanos 63 The Italian Hispanos 67 Other Building Countries '. 68 The Hispano Suiza V-8 as a New Construction Concept—Production Figures 68 The V-8 in Figures 69

Chapter 2 1919-1927: Establishment of La Hispano Aircraft and the Societe Francaise Hispano Suiza 73

The Post-War Period at La Hispano Suiza of Bois-Colombes 73 The New H-6 Automobile 73 The V-8—A Badge Creator 74 Birkigt's Disagreements with the Company 76 The Financial Results of La Hispano Suiza, and Establishment of La Societe Francaise Hispano Suiza 79 The 1919 Concurso Militar, and Establishment of La Hispano Aircraft 84 Barron Leaves La Hispano Aircraft 90 Other Aircraft of the 1919 Concurso 91 The First Guadalajara Series: The DH-6 and the DH-9 94 The 1923 Concurso Militar, and Dissolution of La Hispano Aircraft 98 Dissolution of La Hispano Aircraft 102 Other Spanish Aircraft with the 300-HP V-8 103 The AME VIB, the Bristol F-2B, and the Breguet XTV 103 The Flying Boats 104 The Pescara Helicopter 104 The New 12-Cylinder Engines: Type 50 (12-G), Type 51 (12-H), and Type 52 (12-J) 104 New Versions of the 12-Cylinder Engines 112 The Final Versions of the V-8 114 New Engines and New Records—The First Transatlantic Flight by a Hispano Suiza Engine 114 1926—The La Hispano Potez 25 and the Loring R-III 117 The Loring R-ffl 120 A.E.T Roa's Aircraft 122 1927—The Escuela de Transformation at Guadalajara 122 The 1927 New Concurso of the Aviation Militar, and the Hispano-Nieuport 52 122 12-Cylinder Engines Built in Barcelona, and Spanish Aircraft Powered by the New W-12 and V-12 Engines 125 The Breguet XIX Aircraft 1251 TheDornier^/ 127 The Savoia S-62 129 The Vickers Vildebeest 1291 The Great Record Flights with the New 600-HP 12-Lb Engine 129 The Jesus del Gran Poder 1291 The Flight of the Oiseau Canari 132 The Numancia Odyssey 133

Chapter 3 1928-1932: New Engine Ranges, and Fiat Buys La Hispano of Guadalajara 135J

The New 1928 Engines—The 12-M, 12-N, 6-M, and 6-P—and the Gas Nitrided Cylinders 135 The New Automobile Engines 135 The New Aviation Engines 136 Further Developments in the 12-N Engines 143] The 18-Cylinder Engine for the Schneider Trophy, and Barron's Hexamotor 143 Commercial Derivatives: The 12-Mcandthe 18-S 145 Barron's Hexamotor 146 The Great Paris-New York Flight 147 The Three World Records of Spanish Aviation 149 The Silver Jubilee of La Hispano Suiza of Barcelona 150 The Black Legend of the Hispano Suiza Engines, and Absorption of the Etablissements Ballot 154 The Automobile and Railway V-l 2's, and the Last Automobile Engines 156 The Air-Cooled Hispano-Wright Engines 157 The HispanoE-30 Aircraft 162 La Hispano Suiza, Fiat, and the End of La Hispano of Guadalajara 168 The Radial Engines Made in Barcelona, and Spanish Aircraft Powered with Hispano-Wright Engines 170 The "Arturo Elizalde" Prize for Spanish Engines 171 The Hispano-Clerget Experiences with Diesel Engines 173

Chapter 4 1932-1935: New Military Developments, Engines Fitted with Compressors, and Cannons 177

The 12-X and 12-Y Engines with Compressors 177 Engines Derived from Aviation Engines for Other Purposes 181 The 12-X and 12-Y Engines in Moteur-Canon Version 182 The Supercharged Hispano-Wright Engines 186 The Twin-Radial 14-Cylinder Engines 188 The Variable-Pitch Hispano-Hamilton Propellers 192 La Hispano Suiza and the Concursos of the Spanish Aviation Militar—The HS-34 Light Plane 195 The 1935 Air Show, and the Hawker Fury and Osprey 196 The Hawker Fury 198 The Hawker Osprey 201 The Hispano Suiza HS-404 Cannon 201 The 12-X and 12-Y Engines in Barcelona 204 The Death of Damian Mateu, Founder of La Hispano Suiza 207

Chapter 5 1936-1939: The —La Hispano Suiza in Republican- Held Territory, and La Hispano Suiza in Nationalist Territory ...209

La Hispano Suiza in Republican 209 La Hispano Suiza Projects in 1935-1936: The C-36 and RBL-36 Aircraft 209 The Factories at Guadalajara in 1936, and the Move to Alicante 213 Repairs and Transformations 215 The Vultee V-1A 216 Surgery 217 The Second Move 222 Production of the Polikarpov 1-16 Mosca 223 The Factory in Barcelona from 1936 to 1939 225 La Hispano Suiza in Nationalist Spain 232 Agreement Between La Hispano Suiza and Fiat, and the New Factory in Seville 232 Recovery of the Factory in Barcelona 236 The End of the War at SAF-15 at Alicante 239

Chapter 6 . 1936-1945: The Societe Francaise Hispano Suiza in World War II 241

The Societe Francaise Hispano Suiza Before 1936 241 The Establishment of the Societe d'ExploitationdesMateriels Hispano Suiza 243 The Societe Brevets Aero-Mecaniques and the New Hispano Suiza Companies in Switzerland and Great Britain 245 Hispano Suiza in Great Britain 247 German Interest in the HS-404 Cannon 250 The HS-404 Cannon in the United States 251 The American HS-404 and the British HS-404 255 American Development of the HS-404 255 The HS-404 in American Aircraft 256 The V-12 Built in the U.S.S.R. and Its Klimov Derivatives 257 Other 12-X and 12-Y Licenses 261 The Last Engine Projects for Civilian Applications 262 The Inverted-V Engines 262 The V-12 Engine for the Deutsch Coupe 262 The 1936 Railway Engines 262 New Factories and Test Centers in France, and the 12-Y Reaches 1000 CV 264 The 12-Y Reaches 1000 CV 268 The Szydlowski-Planiol Compressors 270 The Final Development of the 12-Y Engines 271 The New Pre-War Developments, and the 24-H and the 12-Z 271 The New Motor 12-Z 273 New Military Projects During the War 277

Chapter 7 1939-1949: Spanish Factories After the Civil War, Establishment of La Hispano Aviacion, and the End of La Hispano Suiza in Barcelona 279

The Factory in Seville After the War, and the HS-132 L (Fiat CR-32) 279 The Dual-Control Fiat CR-32 282 The New Prototypes Policy of the Ministerio del Aire, the Renewed HS-34 Light Plane (HS-41), and theHS-40 284 The Renewed HS-34 (HS-41) Light Plane, and the HS-40 285 The HS-42/HS-43 Aircraft 285 The HA-43 Variant 297 The Hispano Suiza HS-50 Project, and the Argentinian Dossier 299 The Argentinian Dossier 304 The Project for the HS-60 Training and Light Bombing Aircraft 304 Establishment of La Hispano Aviacion, and the Impossible Return to Guadalajara 306 Productive Restructuring of the Factory in Barcelona, and the Contract with the French Government 311 Machine-Tool Construction, and Birkigt and His Team in Barcelona 314 The 7-Cylinder Motor 93 Project 317 The Motor 89 12-Z in Barcelona, the End of La Hispano Suiza, and the Establishment of the Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones, S. A. (ENASA) 320 Fuel Injection in the 12-Z 320 The HS-404 Cannons in Spain, and Construction in Barcelona 332 The MesserschmittBf 109 Built by La Hispano Aviation 336 Production Problems 343 Operation Pepinos 351 Comparison Between the Merlin 500/45 and the HS-89 Engines 352

Chapter 8 1945-1967: Recovery of the French Hispano Suiza, Industrial Restructuring, and the End of the Other Hispano Suiza Companies 355

The French Factories in World War II 355 Continuation of Previous Developments: The 12-Z and Its 24-and 48-Cylinder Derivatives 358 The Motor 89 12-Z at Bois-Colombes 359 The 24-and 48-Cylinder Projects 362 New Projects: The Y-36 Engine, and the Study of a Ramjet 365 Study of a Ramjet 367 The Motor 100(12-B) Project for Combined Propulsion 368 A New Industrial Orientation, and Construction of Diesel Engines 370 The V-8 HS-103 Diesel Engine 372 The Motor Diesel HS-110 374 The Motor Diesel HS-115 375 The Constant Pressure Automatic Chamber (CAPC, Chambre Automatique a Pression Constante) 376 The Nene, Tay, Verdon, and Hispano Suiza R-800 Turbojets 376 The Nene Turbojet Engine 377 The Tay Turbojet Engine 378 The Verdon Turbojet Engine 379 The New Hispano Suiza R-800 Turbojet Engine 380 Industrial Turbines, Turbocompressors, and Nuclear Equipment 381 Turbocompressors 382 The Tyne Turboprop 383 Nuclear Equipment 383 Other Activities 384 Integration of SEM Hispano Suiza into SNECMA, and the End of Societe Francaise Hispano Suiza 385 The Hispano Suiza Companies in Holland and the 387 The British MARC After the War 388 The End of Hispano Suiza (Suisse) and Brevets Aero-Mecaniques 389 The HS-30 Armored Personnel Carrier 389 The End of Brevets Aero-Mecaniques 390

Chapter 9 1949-1967: The Jet Aircraft, and the End of La Hispano Aviation 393

The Agreements with Professor Messerschmitt 393 The End of the Wooden Aircraft 394 The HA-100 Training Aircraft 395 The First Spanish Jet Aircraft: The HA-200Saeta 402 The Impossible Sale to Germany 408 AlKahira, the Egyptian Saeta, and the Spanish Saeta Series 412 The Spanish Saeta Series 417 The HA-210 Project, and the HA-200 Prototype 417 The Saeta Attack: The HA-200 C, the HA-57, and the HA-60 Super Saeta Tactical Combat Aircraft 419 The HA-200 C 419 The Ground Attack HA-57 Single-Seater 419 The HA-60 Super Saeta Tactical Combat Aircraft 419 Saetas Transformed into Single-Seaters: The HA-200 F and the HA-220 423 HASAArmament Division 428 Multi-Seat Aircraft Derived from the Saeta: TheHA-56, HA-230, andHA-231 Projects 429 The HA-300 Supersonic Fighter 435 The HA-300 in Egypt 447 The Jet Engines in Spain: The INI-Aries and ENMASA Marbore 453 The Me 400 and HA-500 Projects 456 The HA-500 Alacran Project 460 1972: Absorption ofLa Hispano Aviation by Construcciones Aeronauticas 464 The MBB-223 Flamingo Built by HASA 466 The C-101—The Last HASA Project 466

Bibliography 469

Acknowledgments 473

Appendix I Evolution of the Hispano Suiza Companies in the World 475

Appendix II Complete Hispano Suiza Engine List, from Type 31 Aviation Engine 479

Appendix III Hispano Suiza Aviation Engines Produced in Barcelona 491

About the Author 495