Ladougne

   At the end of 1911 Andre Ladougne left the firm of Ambroise Goupy, where he had been a pilot, to become a builder himself. He designed 2 small monoplanes inspired by the fastest Nieuports, both named La Colombe (dove). The first was a single-seater which flew for the first time at Juvisy on 1 January 1912, and was reported to be "the quickest aircraft ever seen there." The rectangular fuselage was narrow (.68 m at the widest), but very deep (1.5 m at the cockpit); the section decreased quickly aft of the cockpit. The top longerons were straight, the lower ones bellied down. As on the Nieuports, the wings were trapezoidal with the same double-curved section. On the triangular tailplane were 2 elevators with distinctive inwardly-curving ends; the large rudder had a similar shape. The rear legs of the 4-leg undercarriage curved out in front to become skids. The machine was flown first with a 28 hp 3-cylinder Anzani and achieved 96 kmh; refitted with a 50 hp Gnome it reached 120 kmh.

   (Span: 8.6 m; length: 7.1 m; wing area: 16 sqm; empty weight (Anzani): 230 kg; (Gnome): 260 kg)

   The second Colombe was built for the 1912 Circuit d'Anjou, a more powerful and slightly larger tandem 2-seater.

   (Span: 9.7 m; length: 7.6 m; wing area: 17 sqm; 75 hp 6-cylinder Anzani)
  
   The 2 aircraft had similar shapes and were similarly constructed: the wings were built on shaped spars fitted to the fuselage through 8 cm tubes; the first 3 ribs were of ash, the others poplar. The whole airframe was covered with varnished fabric. Control was through a single lever or an oscillating bridge; rudder pedals were retained for those who were accustomed to using them.
   Bobba and Divetain, also former Goupy pilots, flew the 2 Colombes; Divetain crashed in the 2-seater in the Anjou contest. After the accident, Ladougne gave up his firm and joined Bobba in Italy, where together they formed a new company to build monoplanes copied from the Moranes and Morane-Saulniers.