WOW529 – Hanriot HD.I

Description

The Hanriot HD.I was a WW1 single-seat fighter aircraft, developed by the French as a follow-on competitor to the successful Nieuport 17 single seat fighter. Unfortunately, it was being developed at the same time as the soon to be famous SPAD VII and was rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of the SPAD VII, and as a consequence it was not ordered into production by the French. The aircraft eventually found its way to both the Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) of the Royal Italian Army, and Aviation Militaire Belge (Belgian Military Aviation) where it enjoyed a successful career. Several successful aces such as Willy Coppens who started their careers with the Nieuport fighters preferred the agile Hanriot to other aircraft. Small numbers were used by both French and American navies. About 1,200 examples built, 831 were produced by Italian companies under licence.

With its 110 hp Le Rhone rotary engine it was not very fast but it was extremely manoeuvrable and proved popular with pilots as a safe and comfortable aircraft to fly. To maintain a competitive climbing and altitude performance it was usual practice to restrict armament to one synchronised Vickers machine gun, although there was provision for a second gun and one was occasionally fitted.

Our 1/30 scale Mahogany model was flown by Flaminio Avet [August 3rd 1890 – August 21st 1928] was an Italian officer and Pilot highly decorated, he is credited with 8 kills during WW1.  He scored eight official victories, though twelve or thirteen were more likely, even if only 8 were confirmed he was still an Ace.

At the outbreak of the war he enlisted as an officer in the cavalry arm of the Royal Italian Army and was assigned to the 9th Lancers Regiment of Florence. From August 1914, he fought in the trenches, on the Karst, as an artilleryman with the 37th Regiment. On 25 November he was awarded a Silver Medal for Military Valour for his bravery in combat.

At the beginning of 1916 the request for transfer to the Air Force was accepted. He made his first flight, aboard a Blériot, on May 25 of that year and obtained his military pilot’s license on November 15, 1916.

He probably caught the “Spanish flu” in 1918, and his health was never up to par afterwards. He passed away in 1928.

The figures and accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included