L'autre aile

L'autre aile movie poster.

Movie (1923)

Starring:
Marthe Ferrare (Hélène Tarnière)
Jean Murat (Robert Vraie)
Charles Vanel (Gaston Lager)
Mary Harald (Diane de Kenn)

Hélène Tarnière lost her love during an airshow. The rich and wealthy young woman, much courted, isolates herself in her estate until she takes her destiny into her own hands: she's going to be an aviatrix!

Nieuport-Delage Ni-D. 29

A close look at an enlargement reveals this airframe is flying under the civil registry.
Reg. F-AFDD Nieuport NiD-29 c/n 490. Owner Sté Nieuport.

Seen again more one hour later ...

Farman F.60 Goliath Bomber

Indifined bomber airframe (F.60 Bn2 or Bn4 ?) of this brand new bomber recently delivered to Régiment de Bombardement, Aéronautique Militaire (Bomber units of the French Army).

A bomber overflying another one.

One hour later ...

Vedette Zodiac Airship (and Farman F.70 in the distance)

(background) Reg. F-AEFD Farman F.70 c/n 4 of Compagnie Aérienne Française, a 1920s French unequal-span biplane aircraft with a wooden fuselage and a Renault 12Fe piston engine which was designed for four passengers and mail transport.

SPAD S.42

Blériot-SPAD S.42 (usually named only SPAD) was a French biplane trainer aircraft relying on the SPAD S.XIII (the wing was changed for a new upper one slighty swept and -of course- no armement but another station for the student or passenger). Ten airframes built for the French Navy (Aéronautique Navale) and a handfull to the civil market including this F-AEHO (c/n 3) sold in 1927 to a second owner and eventually deregistered in 1934.

Note the mirroring F under the horizontal stabilizer.

Loosing parts !

Farman F.60 Goliath Airliner

Reg. F-AEEE Farman F.60 Goliath c/n 11. First flight with Farman, sold to Compagnie Aérienne Française. Short-live airframe delivered in summer 1922 which crashed at Valenciennes airshow, North of France, on 15 July 1923.
On its first flight of the day, while performing first flights with a full load of twelve passengers on board, both engines failed, forcing an emergency landing. Seven passengers were slightly injured, but the Goliath was badly damaged and never repaired.

Seen again one hour later.

Morane-Saulnier MS.35

Reg. F-ADCY Morane-Saulnier MS.35 (airframe Morane-Saulnier AR built after the Armistice / end of World War One) c/n 38. Manufactured in 1921 and WFU (Withdrawn From Use) in 1931.
Seen again during the panoramic view of the static display.

Various Aircraft

Panoramic shot:
1 : unidentified;
2 : ? ;
3 : ? ;
4 : Blériot-SPAD S.33;
5 : SPAD S.XX (SPAD S.20).

6 : ? ;
7 : ? ;
F-ADCY Morane-Saulnier MS.35 (already seen practising aerobatics).

8 and 10 : Hanriot HD.14 ;
9 : Caudron C.60 without full registration (only F- ) !

Unidentified Fighter Aircraft

SPAD XIII or Nieuport-Delage Ni-D. 29 ?

Caudron G.3

Now used by civilian (F-....).

Hanriot HD.14

Seen by continuity error in the middle of the SPAD S.42 shot.

Farman F.50

The Farman F.50 reach the front line in July 1918. In 1920, six flights were still flying this sesquiplane fading in the face of the new F.60 Goliath.

Made for Movie 'SPAD'

On the crash action, the Spad S.42 makes way to an aircraft made up of scattered subassemblies or from a derelic wreck fitted with what seems to be a Breguet Br. 14 main landing gear, itselfusing not the usual wheels but smaller ones.
Perfect verticality seems to be achieved by breaking a rope holding this airframe from the top of a crane.

Unidentified Aircraft

The fire burnt the crashed plane. Unidentified WFU (Withdrawn From Use) airframe used for the filming.

Two Unidentified Parasol Aircraft

Morane-Saulnier MS.35

Reg. F-ADCN Morane-Saulnier MS.XXXV c/n 45 (type first known as Morane-Saulnier MS.AR; as Morane-Saulnier MS.XXXV (or MS.35 in Roman numerals) for the aircraft built after 1918).

Handley Page W.8b

Reg. G-EAPJ Handley Page W.8b c/n W8/1 delivered on 11 November 1919. In front of windows, a close-up reveals the airline name : Handley Page Transport Ltd but christened name is unclear (still 'Newcastle' or the later 'Duchess of York'?).
Note the less powerful but more economical Rolls-Royce Eagle IX engines (despite not streamlined).
Crash-landed at Poix-de-Picardie, Somme (in Northern France) on 10 July 1923 en route from Croydon to Paris. The crew encountered engine problems and elected to make an emergency landing in an open field. Upon landing, the aircraft rolled for few dozen metres then impacted a drainage ditch, coming to rest broken in two. All nine occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Hiding a commercial Farman F.60 Goliath.

Various Model

The fuselage is close to the Lioré et Olivier LeO 21 (first flight in 1926). More on the Discussion tab.

Behind Hélène, maybe a model of the actually brand-new Breguet 19 (prototype).

Dorand AR-1

Reg. F-CAFU Dorand AR-1 c/n 416. Owned by Compagnie Aérienne Française between 1922 and 1924, this plane was sold to an Algerian flying club where it was withdrawn from use in 1931.

Note the tilting ladder (now over the registration), added once the plane sold the civil market.

Dorand AR-2

Reg. F-CAFW Dorand AR-2 of Compagnie Aérienne Française.
The Dorand AR family was two close types used for reconnaissance duties in 1916-1917 by Aéronautique Militaire (prequel of the French Air Force) and the American Expeditionary Force. Serbia and Greece too used some airframes. These types have been designed by Colonel Dorand and manufactured by several main builder in their factories (Renault, Breguet, Farman ...). Production ranged between 1,400 and 1,800 airframes.

SPAD S.42

Reg. F-AEHO c/n 3 (again). Although Hélène's lover was killed at the controls of this plane, which then burned down, it's the same aircraft which is used for her flight lesson then became her personnal mount.

On the horizon line, the other side of the Le Bourget airport : the military area, alias Dugny airbase.

Diane (Mary Harald), jealous of Hélène's success, tries to sabotage her plane.

Farman F.60 Goliath Airliner

Once Hélène had decided to learn to fly, at Le Bourget, the camera picked up a large number of Goliaths in the background.
(left) Reg. F-FHMY Farman F.60 Goliath Picardie c/n 6844, the 21th of the type seen in the hangar. Built in 1920, upgraded to F.63 bis on november 1929. Crashed and burnt on 10 February 1930, killing two of the five on board. Fist flight as Farman, sold to Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens, transferred to Air Union after merge with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes in January 1923.

(right background) Maybe a Breguet 14T (or Tbis ?).

Reg. F-ADAY c/n 6833 (39th F.60) built in 1920 (?) and registered in mid-1921. Ended as F.63bis in October 1927 and then seems mostly used for air mail. Last known flight in 1931 and final fate unknown.

Reg. F-ADAY Farman F.60 Goliath (christened Alsace) of Air Union, a brand new company established on 1 January 1923.

Three Farman F.60 Goliaths : (right edge) F-ADAY next to (left edge) F-AEFN and (back center) F-GEAO.
F-AEFN, c/n 63 was delivered to Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes in August 1922. Transferred to Air Union in January 1923.
F-GEAO christened Paris own by Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens, registered in 1921; transferred to Air Union in 1923, crash landed on 22 January 1924 at Croydon (EGCR) South of London and burnt just after the crew and the passengers exited unharmed. Aircraft and mail and luggages are lost.
Same aircraft in other movies at Frequently Seen Aircraft (Civil Fixed-Wing).

(center) F-ADCA Farman F.60 Goliath c/n 33 on the second background, registration barely visible. Delivered to Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes in August 1922. Transferred to Air Union in January 1923, christened Lorraine.

(right edge) Another Goliath, unknown registration starting by F-G.

(left background) F-AEGQ, Farman F.60 Goliath c/n 65. Delivered to Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes in September 1922. Transferred to Air Union in January 1923, christened Gascogne.

Blériot-SPAD S.33

Reg. F-FREA Berline Blériot-SPAD 33 c/n 3032 own by CFRNA-Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne, became CIDNA in 1925.

Diane at the hangar door as she goes to sabotage the plane.

F-FREA in front of another Berline (reg. seems to F-A(E or L)(K?)(I or T)...). If you try to correct the Gamma for this screenshot, you can see that the two aircraft from the same airline, CFRNA, have their upper wing registrations facing in opposite directions (and you'll read ...EHO in the bottom left corner, the plane Diane targeted).

(center) Reg. F-FRER Blériot-SPAD S.33, c/n 34. Delivered to CFRNA in May 1921. Transferred to CIDNA in 1925.

Reg. F-FREN, c/n 30. Delivered to CFRNA in May 1921. Transferred to CIDNA in 1925.

Various Airliner

1 : Reg. F-AECU , c/n 150. Farman F.61 Goliath Normandie of Air Union. Delivered to Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes in May 1922. Transferred in January 1923 to Air Union. Modified as a F.60 with Salmson CM.9 radials in March 1924. Withdrawn from use in 1932, having spent the last three years as a mail cargo aircraft ;
2 : Registration is partially hidden. F-G(?)(E or F)A(B or R) ... Could match with F-GEAB, c/n 5. Farman F.60 Goliath Savoie of Air Union. Delivered to Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens in February 1920. Transferred to Air Union in 1923.
3, 4 & 7 : Breguet 14T (or Tbis ?);
5 : a Berline Blériot-SPAD, maybe a Blériot-SPAD S.46 (Blériot-SPAD S.33 fitted with a Lorraine-Dietrich inline V-12 water-cooled piston engine);
8 : Registration is partially hidden. Maybe F-FHMY the 21st Farman F-60 Goliath c/n 6844 already seen in the hangar at 25 minutes (see above).

Potez IX

Reg. F-ADBG Potez IX c/n 159 of CFRNA. Built in 1921 ? Destroyed near Zdonskawla, Poland 07 June 1924.
Only thirty Potez IXs were manufactured.

Seen again 32 minutes later.

Morane-Saulnier AV (or MS.39)

Only one airframe built and exhibited during the Salon de l’Aviation (Paris Air Show) of November 1922. First flight in April 1923 (!). No order and unknown fate after a second display at the 1924 Paris Air Show.

Breguet 14T

Reg. F-ADBO Breguet 14T c/n 1914 of Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes. Delivered in July 1921, transferred to Air Union in 1923. WFU in October 1931.
Behind the character, between the two airliners, a fuel pump.

(right) Maybe Farman F.60 Goliath F-AEGQ (see above).

Seen again few minutes later behid the character.

Blériot-SPAD S.33

(right) Reg. F-FREL Blériot-SPAD S.33 c/n 28. Delivered to CFRNA in 1921. Transferred to CIDNA in 1925.

Reg. F-FREF Blériot-SPAD S.33 c/n 22. Delivered to CFRNA in 1921. Transferred to CIDNA in 1925.

Blériot-SPAD S.46

Reg. (F-A)EFH Blériot-SPAD S.46 with Potez VII F-FRA(?)

Farman F.61 Goliath Airliner

Reg. F-AEFC seventh Farman F.61 Goliath (c/n 6943). Later, the inline Renault 12 were changed for a Salmson radial and so the airliner became a F.60. Delivered to Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes in July 1921, transferred to Air Union in 1923.
Same aircraft in other movies at Frequently Seen Aircraft (Civil Fixed-Wing).

Caudron C.61

Reg. F-AFCQ Caudron C.61 serial 11 c/n 5377. Delivered to CFRNA-Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne in April 1923, became CIDNA in 1925. Destroyed in November 1929.

Blériot-SPAD S.33

Reg. F-FRES Blériot-SPAD 33 c/n 3059, 35th S.33 with a short life which ended on 20 August 1923. Delivered to CFRNA-Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne in December 1921. Was rebuilt as Blériot-SPAD 46 F-AGAY.

The best way to reach the open cockpit !

Unidentified Aircraft

A nightly crash. This model is used to act as the trimotor spinning and crashing.

An old airframe with so many patches was probably used to learn and train mechanics to repair battle damage. We guess 346 as serial number botom the rudder. Maybe a Dorand AR.2 ?

Structure seen after the fire.

What seems to have been a two-seater (second seat on the right of the burning bay.

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See also

• L'Autre Aile at IMDb
• L'Autre Aile at Wikipedia
• L'Autre aile at IMCDb
• free online movie (La Cinémathèque website -in French-).