Description
Hispano Suiza, a firm of sound Spanish tradition and origins, is little known to the new generations today. Great luxury automobiles made at the Hispano Suiza factories in Barcelona and Paris during the 1920s and 1930s are usually brought to mind to those who have heard of the company. However, Hispano Suiza developed other activities of considerable industrial, commercial, and strategic importance – aviation engines produced in Spain and France, and aircraft constructed only in Spain.
In 1923, Hispano Suiza established the Société Française Hispano Suiza in France. Although the highest percentage of the company’s assets was Spanish, Hispano Suiza became the first company in France to manufacture aviation engines and the main supplier for the Armée de l’Air until the 1960s.
This book examines Hispano Suiza’s evolution and the technological advances of its engines. Starting with circumstances that favored the creation of an indigenous aviation engine, the story follows engine development for a breadth of applications, particularly aviation engines, and describes, in parallel, the birth and development of aircraft in Spain by Campañía Española de Construcciones Aeronáuticas (CECA), La Hispano, La Hispano Aircraft, La Hispano Suiza, SAF-5, SAF-15, and La Hispano Aviación.
Although numerous books have been published on the more common developments of Hispano Suiza, until now none have been published on the company’s primary line of business, aircraft and aviation engines. Hispano Suiza in Aeronautics: Men, Companies, Engines and Aircraft is an in-depth study covering a vast period in the history of the Spanish and French aircraft industry (1913-1967) and offers insight into Hispano Suiza’s significant developments.
