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Reims Aviation closed down

In September 2014 Reims Aviation was liquidated and sold to the Chinese-owned Continental Motors. The parable of Reims Aviation is strictly related to the designer Max Holste (1913-1998). The first steps of Engineer Holste and of its namesake Reims-based company Reims remain obscure being at the turn of the Second World War. What is certain is that from the end of the 'Thirties, he built a number of light aircraft prototypes including, in 1946, a small series of 13 MH.52. It was an aircraft incredibly similar to the US single-engine Ercoupe.

From the onset of the French colonial wars, Holste proposed the rustic MH.152 (first flight on June 12, 1951) to the Army. This was evaluated as being too small and underpowered. The persevering designer returned to the drawing board to offer an enlarged version with the more powerful 400 HP Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior. This time the resulting MH 1521 Broussard (a name translatable as "bush inhabitant", first flight on November 17, 1952) responded perfectly to the military specifications and was ordered in large numbers. But the capacity of Avions Max Holste was relatively limited and an agreement was reached with SIPA and SECA to build the two fuselage sections of the Broussard. Only the manufacture of the wings and the final assembly of the aircraft were centred at the Reims plant.

In the meantime Holste was already designing a successor designated MH.250 Super Broussard with two piston engines. This was further enlarged as the MH.260 powered by two Turbomeca Bastan turboprop engines. The prototype, built by Nord Aviation, flew for the first time in July 1960. But in this period Avions Max Holste was almost inoperative and his partner Pierre Clostermann, the famous WW2 ace, bought all Holste's shares. In 1960 the Cessna Aircraft Company bought a 49% share of the French company which, two years later, was renamed Reims Aviation.

In a short time the two companies reached an agreement which initially included the licence production of the Model 150 and Model 172, the best sellers of the Cessna production range, to satisfy the mounting orders from Europe and a number of Mediterranean countries. Reims Aviation developed their own Reims FR 172 Rocket from the original Cessna 172. The agreement evolved progressively to include licence-production of other models such as the F 152, the F 182 Skylane, the F 337 Super Skymaster, the F 177 Cardinal and finally the F 406 Caravan II powered by two turboprop engines (first flight on September 22, 1983) exclusively built in France. In 1962 the MH.260 Super Broussard programme was sold to Nord Aviation which put into production an highly modified pressurized version with rounded fuselage section named Nord Aviation N.262A.

In 1964 Max Holste, understandably embittered, moved to Brazil and was welcomed with open arms by the local emerging aerospace industry. INPE (Instituto de Pesquisas Espaciais) asked him to design the new YC-95, a small twin-engine military transport aircraft which flew for the first time on October 26, 1968. To produce it, in 1969 EMBRAER (Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica was specifically established. The prototype of the civil version EMB 110 Bandeirante took to the air on August 9, 1972 marking the beginning of a series of then unthinkable successes of EMBRAER in the regional transport aircraft sector.

In 1989, Cessna resold their shares to Reims Aviation which returned to being a fully French aircraft manufacturer. Production of the single-engine models was halted except for the F 406. The Reims-Cessna F 406 Caravan II and its Vigilant counterpart for aerial surveillance were turboprop twin-engine utility aircraft designed and manufactured by Reims Aviation with the assistance of the US company.

In March 2014, when bankruptcy was nearing, it was decided to transfer the aircraft logistic support issues to ASI and then to move the assets of the F 406, still in slow production, to Continental Motors. But the financial situation worsened and, on September 10, 2014, what remained of Reims Aviation was forced to enter receivership. The historic manufacturer was acquired by the Chinese-owned Continental Motors. Two F 406 unfinished airframes were completed in France reaching a total production of 99 items. At first Continental Motors was intending to continue the production of the F 406 in their Mobile (Alabama) plant but only spare parts were manufactured from then on - a sad end to the Max Holste dream.

In the picture: Cessna (Reims) F 406 Vigilant G-CVXN (c/n F406-0064 built in 1991) of Caledonian Airborne Systems on static display at Le Bourget Air Show 2011. This aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-11 turboprop engines and fitted with a belly radome with BAE Systems Seaspray 2000 radar. On November 11, 1991 it was delivered to Scottish Fisheries which used it until 2008. Noteworthy the Citation fin. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, September 2014)