Hanriot HD.1 - Foreign users

Today, we are altering our criterion a little bit. Despite being a French design, it wasn't produced for French users but for foreign users, Italy and Belgium, mainly. That's why we consider France as a foreign user, despite it was manufactured in France, but also in Italy by Macchi, which manufactured more exemplars than the parent firm. Also, given the importance this airplane had in the Belgian army, we are going to reserve entries exclusively for Belgian and Italian ones.

The Hanriot HD.1 was a French single seat biplane fighter aircraft. It was rejected to serve in the French army in favour of the SPAD S.VII and thus, it was offered to both Belgian and Italian armies where it served successfully. In fact, it became the standard Italian fighter of the Great War. Of a total of 1200 airplanes built, 831 were manufactured under license by the Italian Macchi company.

This airplane, influenced by the Sopwith designs, mainly because Hanriot had produced under license the Sopwith 1/2 Strutter, was produced in 1916.

It was powered by a 110hp LeRhone rotary engine and, although it wasn't very fast, it was highly maneouvrable and was very popular among the pilots due it's easiness to control. In order to keep the good climbing and altitude numbers, it's armament was oftenly restricted to a single synchronised vickers machine gun, althought there was place for a second one. This airplane introduced a new feature (for the era): The machine guns were at the side of the cockpit and not in front, providing more safety in the case of a crash. However in the Italian built versions the machine-gun was fitted on the front of the cockpit and not at the sides.

The users covered in this entry are:

• Ecuador: The newly created Ecuadorian military aviation school bought their second airplane which named it 'Telegrafo Iº' (Telegraph 1st). It achieved renown within that country when the Italian born pilot Elia Liut crossed the Ecuadorian Andes flying that airplane.
• France: Apparently the French naval aeronautics employed some floatplane sub-variant of the HD.1 in order to defend their naval bases. It seems that they sold all their exemplars to the US Navy. As we couldn't find reliable info about how they looked like, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Paraguay: The Paraguayan National Air Force bought three airplanes from Italy. As we couldn't find graphical information about their colours under Paraguayan command, the drawing is speculative.
• Switzerland: The Swiss Army Aviation bought some HD.1 in order to equip their fighter squadron based in Dübendorf, near Zürich. One of them is still displayed in the Dübendorf aviation museum.
• United States: The US Naval Aircraft Factory adquired 10 HD.1 which used them to make trials on take-off platfroms from warships in the post-war years. They were also employed as advanced trainers. 
• Venezuela: The Venezuelan Military Aviation School adquired some French made HD.1 during the late 10s/early 20s in order to equip their fighter squadron.
• Austro-Hungarian Empire: It is known that at least one ex-Italian aircraft performed a forced landing in Austro-Hungarian soil and they captured the airplane and pushed it into service with their air corps. 

Ansaldo SVA - Foreign Users, First Entry

We start a new saga of airplanes!. This time we take a deep look into the Italian Ansaldo SVA.

The Ansaldo SVA was a saga of Italian reconnaissance airplanes designed and employed during The Great War and employed also in many other post-war conflicts.

There were various versions:

• SVA1: Later identification of the SV prototype
• SVA2: Pre-production series of the SVA.
• SVA3: Interceptor version. Powered by an SPA 6A engine. Featured one upper-wing mounted fiat machine-gun. AKA 'SVA Ridotto'
• SVA4: Reconnaissance version. Featuring one Vickers Machine gun on the left side and two photo-cameras.
• SVA.5: Recon-Bombing version. Two side mounted frontal Vickers Machine guns and equipped with bomb racks under the fuselage. Some versions were tested with early radio equipment.
• SVA.6: Purely reconnaissance version of the SVA.5. One wing-mounted Fiat machine gun. Equipped with two cameras.
• SVA.7: Recon/bomber of the SVA.6. Racks for 6 bombs under the fuselage.
• SVA.8: AKA Ansaldo A.201/A.202 Prototype of an armoured ground attack variant. It was powered by an Isotta-Fraschini engine. It was written off from inventory in May 1923.
• SVA.9: Two-Seat trainer of the SVA.5. One of them was modified in order to perform the flight over Vienna with the cockpit of the pilot and the observer reverted.
• SVA.10: Two-seat Reconnaissance version.
• ISVA/SVA Am: Floatplane fighter version (ISVA) or floatplane observation airplane (Am), made on request of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy)
• SVA AP: AP stands for 'Ansaldo Postale' which was just a regular SVA.5 powered by an V6 Isotta-Fraschini employed as a postal airplane.

Now the users covered in this post are:

• Argentina: Both Ansaldo SVA.5 and SVA.10 were employed by the Argentinean Servicio Aeronáutico del Ejército (Army Aeronautical Service) both in their first two fighter squadrons and their military flying schools. One SVA.5 became very famous after crossing the Andes twice, piloted by the Captain Parodi.
• Bolivia: Apparently some of them were used by the Bolivian Cuerpo de Aviación (Aviation Corps). We couldn't find graphical evidence so the drawing should be considered as speculative. UPDATE: The only Ansaldo SVA (most probably a SVA.5) to flight over Bolivia was the one belonging to Count Aldo Barbaro, one of South America's aviation pioneers. He flew in many occasions from lake Titicaca in Peru, to the city of La Paz, in Bolivia achieving various records within South American flights and was also the first South American aviator to reach 4000m high on a flight from Arequipa, in Peru to Oruro, in Bolivia. During one of those flights that took place on July 1923, his aircraft malfunctioned while he was approaching La Paz and his plane crashed killing him on the spot. Nowadays Count Aldo Barbaro is a hero both for Peru and Bolivia.
  It seems that in May 1920 an Italian officer, named Evaristo Ruffo, assigned to the military mission in Argentina, crossed the Argentino-Bolivian border to offer the Bolivian government five SVA.5 (among other many aircraft) in order to set-up an aviation school. However the deal couldn't be closed so the aircraft weren't delivered.
  Thanks to our follower Bluewarrior for giving us the information and providing us with photos.
• Brazil: It seems that some SVA were used by the Brazilian navy aeronautical service. As we couldn't information about these airplanes under Brazilian command, it's considered as speculative both the colours and the sub-model.
• Chile: The Italian colony in Chile bought an airplane and, when performing a demonstration flight, it crashed off the shore of Valparaiso in 1924.
• Ecuador: During 1921 Italy sent a military mission to Ecuador in order to form new pilots there. They bought together with them, an Ansaldo SVA.10, a Macchi M.18 a SAML S2 and an Aviatik D.I. The Ecuadorian aviation school opened up on July 1922.
• Georgia: During the Russian civil war, the Soviet Red Army invaded Georgia in 1921. It is known that the Georgians had a tiny air corps comprissed of some Sopwith Camel and some other SVA.10. Basing on how the Camel looked like, we have drawn the SVA.10, speculating of course.
• Latvia: The Latvian aviation corps had some SVA.10 in active during 1924 when one of them was sent for four days to the Estonian capital of Tallinn as a diplomatic action in order to improve relations between both countries.

Source (for Aldo Barbaro's history):
1. The comments and photos left by our follower, Bluewarrior. Thanks to him.
2. http://aviationpioneers.blogspot.com/2010/05/count-aldo-barbaro.html