| Avions Kellner-Béchereau | |
| Fate: | Merged |
| Successor: | Morane-Saulnier |
| Foundation: | 1931 |
| Defunct: | 1942 |
| Location City: | Boulogne-Billancourt |
| Location Country: | France |
| Key People: | Georges Paulin |
| Industry: | Aeronautics, defence |
| Products: | Aircraft |
Avions Kellner-Béchereau, known as Kellner-Béchereau, was a French aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century.
The company was founded in 1931 by Louis Béchereau together with the French automobile carriage-builder Georges Kellner.[1] The factory, located at Boulogne-Billancourt, began building light monoplanes.[2] [3] In 1936–37 Avions Kellner-Béchereau built a short series of small monoplanes exploiting one of Louis Béchereau's patents, a full span lateral division of the wing into two sections forming a "double wing".
The wing was first tested on the single-seat Kellner-Béchereau E.1 on 1936, which was followed by two larger and more powerful two-seaters, the Kellner-Béchereau EC.4 and ED.5. Both of these were designed to meet the French Air Ministry's requirement for a pre-military trainer aircraft to be used by the clubs set up in the "Aviation Populaire" programme.[4] The Kellner-Béchereau designs, however, were not ordered for the Aviation Populaire programme, the Air Ministry opting in favour of the Caudron C.270 and the Salmson Cri-Cri which were both bought in large numbers. Instead, Kellner-Béchereau, along with other manufacturers, built the Cri-Cri under licence.[4]
On the eve of the Second World War, Louis Béchereau conceived a monoplane, the Kellner-Béchereau E.60, also known as K.B.E 60, an embarked monoplane for the aircraft carriers of the French Navy, but its development was frustrated by events.[5]
In 1939 Georges Paulin, who in 1934 had designed the Peugeot 601 Éclipse convertible automobile,[6] [7] joined the aerodynamical department of the Kellner-Béchereau factory. A member of the French Resistance, he was arrested in 1941 and executed the following year. The Kellner-Béchereau factory was destroyed by bombing in 1942 and the Avions Kellner-Béchereau company was subsequently merged with Morane-Saulnier. Louis Béchereau was given a post as a director at Morane-Saulnier until his retirement in 1950.