Armand-Jean-Auguste Deperdussin (c.1870 - 1924)
Belgian-born Armand Deperdussin, a former cabaret singer (who with borrowed money had made a fortune selling imported silk to big department stores), entered the aviation business in 1910 in the aftermath of Blériot's Channel flight and the great airshow at Rheims. Though innocent of any technical training, Deperdussin knew talent when he saw it and was shrewd enough to hire Louis Béchereau. In 1913 the young engineer designed for him the most advanced racing airplane of the pre-war years.
Deperdussin's firm won handsome contracts from the French government and had even begun to penetrate the Russian market when its fast-living and free-spending owner was charged with forgery, fraud, and breach of trust. Paris, 30 March, 1917. The French aircraft maker Armand Deperdussin is jailed for five yrs. and fined FF 1,000 for embezzling FF 32,000,000 from his company. [ http://daybyday.dk.com ]Not even the outbreak of war could save Deperdussin from disgrace, although a reorganized version of his company controlled by his rival Blériot went on with designer Béchereau to produce one of the most famous fighters of World War I, the SPAD VII. Deperdussin's career--and that of others--suggests the volatility of an industry that depended for its survival on the largesse (and fears) of the French state.
Armand Deperdussin créa en 1910 la Société de Production des Appareils Deperdussin (SPAD). Il engagea Louis Béchereau pour diriger la société, et un jeune ingénieur, André Herbemont. Ils mirent au point une série d'appareils monoplans, monocoques, à aile médiane, et très légers. L'hydravion était doté de deux flotteurs principaux plus un troisième à la place de la béquille de queue. Le premier succès d'un avion Deperdussin fut remporté par le 9 septembre 1912, piloté par Jules Védrines, à Chicago dans le cadre de la quatrième coupe Gordon Bennett.
Puis il remporta la coupe Gordon Bennett à Reims le 29 septembre de la même année, et un peu plus tard il établissait un nouveau record du monde de vitesse : 203,850 km/h. La même année, le 27 octobre, Eugène Gilbert remportait la coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe. Malgré tous ces succès la société cessa ses activités à la fin de l'année avec l'arrestation de son fondateur. Elle fût rachetée par Louis Blériot et devint la Société pour l'Aviation et ses Dérivés. Un exemplaire en version terrestre est préservé au Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace du Bourget. also...
Société pour les Appareils Deperdussin The original Spad aircraft manufacturing company was formed by Armand Deperdussin in 1910. The acronym Spad was derived from the company's formal name, Société pour les Appareils Deperdussin. Spad was taken over in 1914 by the famous aviation pioneer, Louis Blériot, when the firm was experiencing serious financial difficulties. Blériot renamed the company Société pour l'Aviation et ses Dérives, thus retaining the same acronym.
Armand Deperdussin Wealthy French silk merchant Armand Deperdussin founded his aircraft-building company Société pour les Appareils Deperdussin (SPAD) at Betheny near Reims, in 1910. He was fortunate in employing Louis Béchereau to be responsible for the running of the company and later engaged a young engineering graduate named André Herbemont. These two brought undying fame to the original short-lived SPAD organization, which went into liquidation in 1913 after Deperdussin had been arrested for embezzlement. Béchereau designed a series of monoplanes of increasing capability, perfecting a monocoque form of fuselage construction that combined a desirable circular cross-section with light weight and strength. Typically, the Deperdussins were braced high-wing monoplanes, two king-posts on the forward fuselage carrying a skein of wires to brace the slender wings. Lateral control was by wing warping. Landing gear was normally of fixed tailskid type, but floatplane versions had, for their day, a very neat float installation. Power was provided for most of the range by Gnôme rotary engines of various power outputs. A first major success came on 9 September 1912, when a Deperdussin powered by a 119-kW (160hp) Gnôme and piloted by Jules Védrines won the fourth James Gordon Bennett Cup race at Chicago, Illinois. Even greater were the achievements of 1913, Maurice Prevost winning the first Schneider Trophy race at Monaco on 16 April, the Gordon Bennett Cup at Reims, France, on 29 September, and setting a world absolute speed record of 203 85 km/h (126.67 mph) on the same date. To complete the year's achievements, a Deperdussin piloted by Eugène Gilbert won the Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe air race around Paris on 27 October. Thus, in a few months Béchereau and Herbemont had created for Deperdussin the world's fastest prewar aeroplane [and] from [this] pinnacle of achievement came collapse of the Deperdussin company. The company was taken over by Louis Blériot and renamed Société pour L'Aviation et ses Derives (also SPAD), which gained fame for its products during World War I.
The Aircraft The differentiation in models seems primarily to revolve around the engine type(s) fitted. Every effort has been made to place the right machine in the right type listing. This series will be further researched [Ed. 03/02] Type 1909
 Deperdussin, Patent, 19 Nov., 1909, pp.1,2 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin, Patent, 19 Nov., 1909, p.3 download a 1000pixel image
Deperdussin A, 1910
Envergure : 7.35 m
 Deperdussin A, 3 cyl. Anzani download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin A
 Deperdussin A, Clerget 50hp., Pilot René Vidart Circuit Européen d'aviation" du 18 Juin au 2 Juillet 1911
 Deperdussin A, Gnôme 50hp., Pilot, Vergnieault
 Deperdussin A, 1911, Anzani download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin A, 1911 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin A, 1911, 3 seater download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin A, 1911. Noting 3 and 4 pasenger speed records. download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Gnôme 50hp., Pilot. Marius LaCrouze, download a 500pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Anzani 60hp., 1911 download a 500pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Pilot, Crombez, 1911. On the 2nd of August 1914 this aircraft and its pilot were integrated in the newly formed 5th Squadron. Guy Van de Merckt Collection.
 Deperdussin A, Gnôme 80hp., 1911 The site claims this to be type c but the Gnôme 80hp engine seems inappropriate
 Deperdussin A download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Pilot : Pascal, 30 June, 1911 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin, Patent, 14 Oct., 1910, pp.1,2 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin, Patent, 14 Oct., 1910, p.3 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin, Patent, 12 Apr., 1911, pp.1,2 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin, Patent, 12 Apr., 1911, p.3 download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Pilot : Marie Marvingt, Reims, 1912 download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin A, 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Pilot : Lt Schlumberger, 18 Apr. 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin A, Gnôme 100hp, Pilot : J. Vedrines, 1913
Deperdussin B, 1911
Envergure : 8.50 m
 Deperdussin B download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin B download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin B download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin Model B, 1913 Pégase No. 8, Dec.77- Jan.78 download a 1000pixel gif image [268kb]
 Deperdussin B, Pilot : Lt. Jeamerod, French Moroco download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin B, 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin B, 1912 download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin B, Pilot : Comte Amilcare Grassi download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin B, Reims-Bèthany, Sept 1913 download a 1000pixel image
Deperdussin C, 1912
Envergure : 8,60 m
 Deperdussin 2 seater, Pilot : Lt. Lalanne, (postmarked) 1913
 Deperdussin aero-mitrailleuse, 1914 download a 1000pixel image  Deperdussin aero-mitrailleuse, 1914
Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912
Envergure : 6.65 m
Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 The first plane to break the 200 kph (124 mph) 'barrier', and the first Schneider Trophy winner, was Armand Deperdussin's monoplane. It was the 'speed phenomenon' of the years before the First World War. The plane was developed early in 1912 by Louis Béchereau, the designer for the Société pour les Appareils Deperdussin. Béchereau worked from an idea by Swedish engineer Ruchonnet, and developed a streamlined monocoque plywood fuselage with a large spinner. To achieve maximum power two Gnôme rotaries were mounted on a common crankshaft. The first noteworthy achievement of this plane was the 1912 Gordon Bennett Cup, which it won with a speed of 108.1 mph (174.01 kph). The plane won the cup again the following year, on September 29,1913 in Reims, Maurice Prevost achieving an average of 124.6 mph (200.5 kph). During this race the plane beat the world speed record three times, and its maximum speed was 126.7 mph (203.85 kph). A few months earlier, in April 1913, Prevost had won another exceptional victory at the controls of the floatplane version of the Deperdussin monoplane: first place in the first race for the Schneider Trophy in Monaco, with an average speed of 45.75 mph (73.63 kph). The low speed was due to the fact that the judges made Prevost repeat his take-off and about six miles (l0km) of the course because of a supposed violation of the rules. This Deperdussin victory was the only time in the history of the Schneider Trophy (1912-31) that France won a race.
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 download a 500pixel image
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, 1912 download a 1000pixel image
 Deperdussin N, 1913 download a 1000pixel image
Gordon Bennet Cup Racer, 1913
 Deperdussin Monocoque Racer, Pilot, Maurice Prévost, 4 October 1913 download a 1000pixel image
Deperdussin Monocoque Floatplane Racer, 1913
Schneider Trophy From 1912, an annual seaplane meeting was held at Monaco, and in 1913 the first Schneider Trophy competition was held there. The prize was offered by French industrialist Jacques Schneider.
 Deperdussin Monocoque Floatplane Racer, 1913 download a 750pixel image
It was won by Maurice Prevost in a float-equipped Deperdussin, which achieved a speed of 126 mph. The machine was a combination of innovative airframe (which was monocoque) and power up front (160 h.p. Gnôme).
 Deperdussin Hydro, Pilot : Maurice Prévost, 1914
 Deperdussin Monocoque Floatplane Racer, 1913 download a 500pixel image
 Deperdussin Monocoque Floatplane Racer, 1913 download a 1000pixel image
Deperdussin D, 1913
Envergure : 13.50m ?
 Deperdussin Model D, 1913 download a 1000pixel image
Further Reading
Download the article Les avions Deperdussin et leur constructeur par Jean B. Reveilhac. Each page is 750pixels wide and approximately 150-200kb Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4 Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8
Finally, The Deperdussin 'Australian Connection' Although not commissioned until 1914, the two Deperdussins imported into Australia (one of the two shown below and fitted with a 3 cyl. 25hp? Anzani? engine) were at best Type Bs (1911) or even possibly Type As (1910) Read about the birth of Australian military aviation in A History of Point Cook
 Deperdussin A, RFS Point Cook, Victoria, Australia Australian War Memorial, Royal Flying School Archive download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin A, RFS Point Cook, Victoria, Australia Australian War Memorial, Royal Flying School Archive download a 750pixel image
 Deperdussin A, RFS Point Cook, Victoria, Australia Australian War Memorial, Royal Flying School Archive download a 750pixel image
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