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13-713: Aéropostale founder Pierre-Georges Latécoère envisioned an air route connecting France to the French colonies in Africa and South America. The company's activities were to specialise in, but were by no means restricted to, airborne postal services. Between 1921 and 1927 the "Line" operated as Compagnie générale d'entreprises aéronautiques (CGEA). In April 1927 Latécoère, having troubles with its planes, damaged due to long flights to South America, decided to sell 93% of his business to another Brazilian-based French businessman named Marcel Bouilloux-Lafont. On that basis Bouilloux-Lafont then founded

26-580: A large, modern factory in the Toulouse suburb of Montaudran. Before doing so, he had also produced a rush order of 600 Salmson aircraft, which the army urgently needed. Having become an aeronautical enthusiast, he decided to create the company Société des lignes Latécoère (later known as Aéropostale), carrying mail from France to Morocco, Senegal and South America - the first aircraft being flown by such well-known pilots as Mermoz and Saint-Exupéry. Finally, he started manufacturing aircraft in his own name, and notably

39-696: A regularly scheduled route across the Andes Mountains to Santiago , Chile, was started, later extending down to Tierra del Fuego on the southern part of Chile. Finally, on May 12–13, 1930, the trip across the South Atlantic by air finally took place: a Latécoère 28 mail plane fitted with floats and a 650 horsepower (480 kW) Hispano-Suiza engine made the first nonstop flight. Aeropostale pilot Jean Mermoz flew 3,058 kilometres (1,900 mi) from Dakar to Natal in 19 hours, 35 minutes, with his plane holding 122 kilograms (269 lb) of mail. The company

52-626: The Compagnie générale aéropostale , better known by the shorter name Aéropostale . On December 25, 1918, the company began serving its first route between Toulouse and Barcelona in Spain. In February 1919 the line was extended to Casablanca . By 1925 it extended to Dakar , where the mail was shipped by steamer to South America. In November 1927 regular flights between Rio de Janeiro and Natal were started. Expansion then continued to Paraguay and in July 1929

65-509: The great seaplanes such as the Latécoère 631 . The Latécoère company still exists in 2024. Reference: Jean-Marc Olivier , "Latécoère, un industriel visionnaire", in Midi-Pyrénées patrimoine , hors-série n° 2, "Toulouse des avions et des hommes", November 2010, pp. 14–25. Lat%C3%A9co%C3%A8re 631 The Latécoère 631 was a civil transatlantic flying boat built by Latécoère ,

78-483: The largest ever built up to its time. The type was not a success, being unreliable and uneconomic to operate. Five of the eleven aircraft built were written off in accidents and one was lost during World War II . The Latécoère 631 was the result of a specification issued in 1936 by the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile for a 40-passenger airliner with a range of 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi). The aircraft

91-680: The owner of a sawmill in Bagnères-de-Bigorre in the Pyrenees, he took an early interest in technology. In 1903, after an outstanding secondary school career he began his degree at the Parisian Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures . On returning to the Pyrenees he modernized his father's firm, specializing in the manufacture of railway wagons. Thus, during the First World War, the profits from government contracts allowed him to set up

104-521: Was a pioneer of aeronautics . Born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre , he studied in the École Centrale Paris and, during the First World War , started a business in aeronautics. He directed plants that made planes and opened the first airlines that operated from France to Africa and South America . Pierre-Georges Latécoère was the founder of the aeronautical industry in Toulouse. As the son of

117-427: Was dissolved in 1932 and merged with a number of other aviation companies ( Air Orient , Société Générale de Transport Aérien , Air Union , and Compagnie Internationale de Navigation ) to create Air France . Source: Developed in the aftermath of World War I , air mail service owed much to the bravery of its earliest pilots. During the 1920s, every flight was a dangerous adventure, and sometimes fatal. The period

130-484: Was eloquently described by the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – himself an Aéropostale pilot – in his novel Vol de Nuit ("Night Flight"), in which he describes a postal flight through the skies of South America . Aéropostale's roster of pilots included such aviation legends as: Among the aircraft operated by the company were: Pierre-Georges Lat%C3%A9co%C3%A8re Pierre-Georges Latécoère ( French: [pjɛʁ ʒɔʁʒ latekɔɛʁ] ; 1883–1943)

143-568: Was ordered in 1938. It was intended that it would be powered by six Gnome et Rhône P.18 engines of 1,650 horsepower (1,230 kW) each. A competitor for this specification was the SNCASE SE.200 Amphitrite . Construction of the aircraft was stopped due to the outbreak of World War II and was not resumed until after the signing of the Franco-German Armistice in 1940. The prototype, registered F-BAHG, first flew on 4 November 1942. It

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156-572: Was powered by six Wright Cyclone engines of 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW) each. Four aircraft were purchased by Air France , and entered service on the Biscarrosse - Port-Étienne - Fort de France route in July 1947. The aircraft were withdrawn from service in August 1948 following the loss of F-BDRC. SEMAF operated two aircraft until 1950, when the survivor was withdrawn following the loss of F-WANU. The Société France Hydro operated one aircraft until it

169-500: Was subsequently confiscated by the Germans, and passed to the Luftwaffe , who allocated the codes 61+11 to it. The aircraft was flown to Lake Constance , where it was destroyed in an attack by two Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito aircraft on 17 April 1944. SNCASE SE.200 Amphitrite 20+01 was destroyed in the same attack. The second aircraft, F-BANT, first flew on 7 March 1945. It

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