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Hanriot HD.3

1917 WORLD WAR 1

History

Hanriot in France developed its single-seat single-engine HD. 1 World War I (1914-1918) combat biplanes entered service in mid-1916. Although inherited by the French Air Force, it housed the inventories of several foreign players at the time, including the United States, the Kingdom of Italy, and Belgium.

In due course, the same design was installed with pontoons and successfully tested as an in-service HD. 2 (detailed elsewhere on this site) and this form has been accepted by the French Navy and, to a lesser extent, the US Navy.

In the fall of 1917, the company was already concentrating on an entirely new two-seat, single-engine biplane - the "HD. 3".

The prototype was completed by the end of the year, continuing Henriett's experience in biplane fighter development. The engine of choice was a Salmson (Canton-Unne) 9Za 260 hp radial piston engine to drive the twin-blade propeller unit on the nose.

The wing elements of the biplane have the same span, the individual cabins are supported by a traditional parallel strut arrangement, the two crew members sit in the tandem open-air cockpit, and the tail gunner is slightly elevated for a better view of the aircraft. Aft in order to.

Armament centered on 2 x 7.7mm Vickers machine guns and 2 x 7.7mm-Lewis machine guns mounted on fixed forward firing brackets managed by the pilot (synchronized firing via rotating propeller blades) and 2 x 7.7mm-Lewis machine guns Special machine gunner mounted on a trainable bracket in the rear cockpit. The landing gear consists of a conventional two-wheel/tail skid arrangement for ground operation.

The French Air Force was so confident in this design that they placed a contract for 120 of the initial production orders in April 1918, when new advanced fighters were still sorely needed to match the new German models. Another serial order, this time from the French Navy, added 180, although the armistice of November 1918 limited the scope of the design and the total production, only 75 ended up in the French Air Service inventory, with few keyed France reaches the navy.

Development of the design continued for some time, resulting in the "HD. 3bis" night fighter prototype - with a thicker main plane and increased control surfaces - and the "HD. 4", another with twin floats One-off prototype, equipped for use on water.

The related "HD.9 Ap.1" were dedicated photo reconnaissance mounts, 10 of which were evaluated by the French from November 1918.

Only about 90 HD in total. 3 aircraft actually saw the light - the end of the war brought this capable biplane to an abrupt end. The only other notable operator of the series became the Kingdom of Italy where HD is located. 3 then entered service with the Aeronautica Militare.