Société d'Aviation Letord

Émile Letord founded Société d'Aviation Letord. This company built reconnaissance bomber-fighters, large biplane bombers, and a sesquiplane for WWI.

These were made to order for the Section Technique de l'Aéronautique (STAe), which was created 1916 as part of the l'Établissement(s) d'Aerostation Militaire Français de Chalais-Meudon. While G and 2dG say these Letord aircraft were designed by the head of STAe, Col. Jean-Baptiste-Émile Dorand, it may be that they were designed and built by Letord to the specifications of the STAe. Also built three experimental aircraft 1919-1923.

E. Letord established on the grounds of l'Etablissement(s) d'Aerostation Militaire Francais de Chalais-Meudon to produce balloons and dirgibles for aerostation.

There was a branch of the company in the Lyon area, at Villeurbanne, in the southeast of France.

The first airplanes by this company followed designs of other manufacturers, notably Dorand and Nieuport. The designs and manufactured airplanes are referred to with "Let." and a number following. The Let.1 was a three-seat biplane with twin engines. It first flew in 1916. The design was "attributed" to Emile Dorand. The aircraft could fly 100mph with a range of 220 miles up to 16,000 feet altitude. The early models had Hispano-Suitza 8A engines. Later ones had Lorraine-Dietrich engines. The French air force ordered 1500 for WWI, but only about 300 were made, and they were no longer made after the war. The company continued at least into the 1920s.

Sources

• Gunston, 1993, p180-181
• Gunston, 2005, p281
• SD176

References

Names	Société d'Aviation Letord, Avions E. Letord, Établissements Letord
Country	FR
Locations	Meudon, Chalais-Meudon, Seine-et-Oise, Villeurbanne, Rhône, French Army Aérostation at Chalais-Meudon
Affiliations
Keywords	WWI
Started aero	1908? 1910?
Ended aero
Key people	Émile Letord
Wikidata id	Q17118153