Franco-British Aviation (usually known by its initials FBA) was an aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century, headquartered in London and with its production facilities around Paris.Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers: From the Pioneers to the Present Day. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Pub. (2nd ed.), 2005, . Specialising in seaplanes, it was established in 1913 by Louis Schreck and André Beaumont.
History The company was established in 1913 by Louis Schreck and André Beaumont.
Louis Schreck was technical director of the French subsidiary in Argenteuil. The first activity of the company was the development of a flying boat hull derived from Donnet-Leveque Type A. The aircraft, a biplane with a single engine mounted between the wings with a pusher propeller, was originally called FBA-Leveque, then it was renamed FBA Type A.
It is from this first model that the manufacturer derived various models that would be used by the forces of Triple Entente: France, United Kingdom and the Russian Empire.
During World War I, the company produced large numbers of small flying boats for the navies of France, Russia, Italy, and the United Kingdom.Mondey, David. The International Encyclopedia of Aviation. New York: Crown, 1977, , p. 220.
Following the war, the company was reorganised as Hydravions Louis Schreck FBA, a purely French concern, and continued building aircraft in the same class. One of these, the FBA 17, sold in quantity.
In 1922, Émile Paumier became technical director and developed the brand models from the FBA model Type 10. From the Type 19 on, the company abandoned the conventional configuration with pusher propeller to finally adopt the tractor propeller.
The company could not repeat its wartime successes. The lack of orders, especially for civilian models, led to production ceasing in 1931. In 1934, on the verge of collapse, the workshops of the factory were sold to Bernard; the latter company was also struggling and itself failed later in 1935.
Aircraft NameTypeProduction NotesFirst flightOperators Seaplane single-engine biplane recognition Also called FBA-Leveque 1913Austria-Hungary, Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, Russia FBA Type B single-engine biplane seaplane 150 1915France, United Kingdom single-engine biplane seaplane 78+ 1916 FBA Type H single-engine biplane seaplane 1915 FBA Type S single-engine biplane seaplane 1917 FBA 10 single-engine biplane seaplane 2 1922 FBA 11 single-engine biplane training seaplane 1 Variant of Type C for training 1923 FBA 13 single-engine biplane training seaplane 1 1922 FBA 14 single-engine biplane seaplane 20 Development of Type 11 trainerFrance FBA 16 single-engine biplane seaplane 1 FBA 17 Single-engine two-seater biplane training seaplane 348 Produced under licence in the United States as the Viking 1923Brazil, France, Poland, United States FBA 19 Amphibian biplane single-engine two-seat reconnaissance 9 A prototype version 19 HMT3 3-seater was built 1924 FBA 21 single-engine civil transport amphibious biplane 7 Civilianized Type 19 for 4 passengers 1925 FBA 171 Type 17 variant for use on catapult 1 FBA 172 Type 17 variant for use on catapult 7 1932 FBA 270 Biplane seaplane single-engine two-seat 1 1929France FBA 271 Amphibian biplane single-engine two-seat 2 1930 FBA 290 Prototype amphibious seaplane single-engine biplane four-seat 1 1931 FBA 291 Variant prototype amphibious type 290 1 FBA 293 Variant of the type 291 – four-seat amphibious liaison 6France FBA 294 Variant of the type 293 – four-seat amphibious liaison 2France FBA 310 amphibious touring monoplane 9 1930
References