Escadrilles and their equipment

[Maureen Dig Aire]

I have been perusing The French Air Service War Chronology 1914-1918 by Frank W. Bailey and I have some questions:

The book has most of the abbreviations listed in the front, espeically for the airplanes; but not for "R." I do get that escadrille designations contained an initial that indicated the airplane, e.g., N 103 for Escadrille number 103 which flew Nieuports. I see "R213 and R214 that seem to have originated in 1917. What does the "R" stand for?

Also, did escadrilles often have numerous types of aircraft? Or did one type replace another?

[Old Man]

I have been perusing The French Air Service War Chronology 1914-1918 by Frank W. Bailey and I have some questions:

The book has most of the abbreviations listed in the front, espeically for the airplanes; but not for "R." I do get that escadrille designations contained an initial that indicated the airplane, e.g., N 103 for Escadrille number 103 which flew Nieuports. I see "R213 and R214 that seem to have originated in 1917. What does the "R" stand for?

Also, did escadrilles often have numerous types of aircraft? Or did one type replace another?


The 'R' designation, Ma'am, indicated equipment with later model twin-engined Caudron machines, designated R11, and used first for long-range reconnaisance, and later in some instances as bomber escorts. The Caudron firm comprised a pair of brothers, Gaston and Rene, hence some Caudron designs were G for Gaston and others R for Rene.

In theory, French escadrilles had one sort of aeroplane at a time, and while the number would remain the same, the equipment abbreviation would change upon re-equipment with a new type. In practice it was not so tidy, and mixed equipments would be flown for some time, with designator change either lagging behind or occuring a tad prematurely. This was particularly true in fighter escadrilles transitioning from Nieuports to SPAD models, since there were numerous production delays with the SPAD fighters. Some fighter escadrilles had a few two-seat machines attached for important reconnaisance work. Some reconnaisance escadrilles mostly equipped with one type might have several examples of another machine, usually a higher-peformance two-seater, or a twin-engined three-seat type, for missions of particular importance or at long range.

[Maureen Dig Aire]

Old Man, thank you. That cleared up a bit, but uncovered some more questions. But, I guess I'll just ask you for your sources. I think those SPADs were real beauties! Can you recommend reading material on them?

Weren't Caudrons bombers? Or am I thinking of Voisins? Or did both have bomber "models?" :)

[Doc]

Interesting topic-- But there is some confusion about which squadrons should have been designated as "R". My references, for example, show squadron 213 (which Maureen asked about) as having been created in December 1916 with Caudron R4s, and thus being C-213. Then it transferred to Breguet XIVs and became BR-213. It was dissolved on 8 July 1919. When and where did the R designation come in? The other one she mentions was 214-- created in December 1916 with the Caudron R-4, it was C-214. Sometime after 5 may 1918 it was issued Breguet XIVs and became BR-214. It was dissolved on 31 December 1918. Again, I find no documentation as to when it could have been equipped with Caudron XIs and labeled an R squadron. The only ones I find listed as R Escadrilles were:Escadrille R.46, Escadrille R.239, Escadrille R.240, Escadrille R.241, Escadrille R.242, and Escadrille R.246. So I'm not sure how or when the 213 and 214 Escadrilles would have been issued Caudron XI, and designated as "R".

Interestingly, all of these "R" Escadrilles are occasionally designated in some references as R.XI-46, R.XI-239, etc. Doc

[Froggy]

Bonjour à tous

Each time a french squadron change there plane, it change it's official
name too (in most of the case)

Below you will find the exact designation and the aircraft concerned

AR Avion Dorand à moteur Renault
BL Blériot
BLC Blériot Cavalerie
BR Breguet
BM Breguet Michelin
C Caudron
CM Caudron monoplace
CAP Caproni
CEP Caproni sous licence Esnault Pelterie
D Deperdussin
DM Deperdussin Monocoque
DO Dorand Anzani
F Farman
HF Henri Farman
HD Henriot Dupont
LET Letord
MF Maurice Farman
MS Morane Saulnier
MSP Morane Saulnier
N Nieuport
PS Paul Shmitt
R Caudron René
REP Robert Esnault Pelterie
SAL Salmson
SOP Sopwith
SPA Spad
SPA Bi Spad Biplace
V Voisin
VB Voisin de Bombardement
VC Voisin Canon
VP Voisin Peugeot
VR Voisin Renault

Victoria, if you are interested in French aircraft go here
Aviation française , les constructeurs (http://www.aviafrance.com/firmes.php)

All the designers are sorted by aphabetical order
like Caudron, Voisin, Spad,Nieuport etc..

Bonne lecture

Cordialement
Bruno

[Maureen Dig Aire]

Ooooo! C'est bon. C'est tres bon. Merci, mon cher Bruno! Merci beaucoup!

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Hello Maureen.
When presented in the abbreviated form it was C213, N69, N3, etc. When you can you should purchase "French Aircraft of the First World War", by Dr. James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan. This is a must book in every library that deal with ww1 aviation. It is about the size of the San Francisco telephone book. It has three view drawings of all the aircraft plus hundreds of photos. It covers all aspects of the war, not just the French Aircraft. I have had the distinct pleasure on having both gentlemen as guests in my home. Fine men.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[Maureen Dig Aire]

Dan, thank you. I had that book listed in my must-read-and/or-acquire list, but had the authors names wrong. Which would explain why I never found the book! Thanks for your small part in correcting my goof. :blush:

Next time I manage to have a few bucks with which to buy another book that'll be my first priority.