REP (Роберт Эсно-Пельтери)
The man who invented the joystick, flew the first metal-framed monoplane and later lost fingers to rocket fuel ran one of the world’s first aircraft factories under his own initials.
R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie): the company and the aircraft that made its name
A laboratory at the bottom of the garden
Robert Esnault-Pelterie, son of a textile industrialist, set up an engine and glider laboratory in his parents’ garden at Boulogne-sur-Seine in 1904. In 1905 his father placed him in a new company, the Établissements Esnault-Pelterie, with 800,000 francs of family money; the same year he experimented with ailerons after deciding Wright-style wing warping was dangerous. On 10 October 1907 his REP 1, a metal-framed monoplane with an engine of his own fan-type design, flew 100 metres at Buc. After a crash in June 1908 he stopped flying and opened a factory on rue de Silly, one of the first in the world.
The joystick and the lawsuit
His most lasting idea was the control stick. He patented a lever control in 1906–1907, and after the war he sued the many builders who had used it. The royalties made him rich and let him repay the family fortune that early aviation had nearly swallowed. Vickers built eight REP-type monoplanes under licence in 1911–1912, its first aircraft.
From reconnaissance to rockets
The REP Type N two-seater served the Ottoman air service in the Balkan Wars and scouted for France at Charleroi and the Marne in 1914; REP Parasols went to the Royal Naval Air Service, and a Lyon-Bron plant licence-built Caproni bombers as the CEP. Esnault-Pelterie then turned to space, wrote L’Astronautique in 1930 and lost fingers in a 1931 laboratory explosion.
R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie) in numbers
Компания
- Суммируя
- Founded 1905
- Établissements Esnault-Pelterie founded with family capital
- Factory on rue de Silly, Boulogne-sur-Seine, from 1908
- Wartime plant at Lyon-Bron
Производство
- Наиболее известен благодаря
- Тип РЕП N
- REP 1 and REP 2 pioneering monoplanes
- Type N reconnaissance monoplane, REP Parasol
- Own fan-type aero engines
- Caproni bombers under licence as the CEP
Сегодня
- Сейчас
- Aircraft work ended
- Founder became a pioneer of astronautics
French Wikipedia says the REP company continues as REP International, outside aviation.
Цифры
- Patents filed by Esnault-Pelterie
- more than 120
- Caproni CEP bombers planned under licence
- 89
Every notable R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie) aircraft
| Самолёт | Роль | Первый рейс | Построен | Статус | Примечание |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REP 1 | Experimental monoplane | 10 October 1907 | Ушедший на пенсию | Metal-framed monoplane with a 30 hp REP engine | |
| REP 2 | Experimental monoplane | 8 June 1908 | Ушедший на пенсию | Flew 1,200 m at 30 m altitude | |
| Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane | Monoplane (licence) | 8 | Ушедший на пенсию | Vickers’ first aircraft production | |
| Тип РЕП N | Разведывательный моноплан | Ушедший на пенсию | Ottoman service 1912; French squadrons REP 15 and REP 27 in 1914 | ||
| REP Parasol | Разведывательный моноплан | 1914 | Ушедший на пенсию | Used by the Royal Naval Air Service | |
| Caproni-Esnault-Pelterie CEP 1 | Night bomber (licence) | Ушедший на пенсию | Caproni Ca.31 built at Lyon-Bron |
Where R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie) built, who led it, what it achieved
Заводы
- Rue de Silly works · Boulogne-sur-Seine — Opened 1908
- Lyon-Bron works · Bron, Lyon — Caproni bombers in the First World War
Люди
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie · founder, engineer, astronautics pioneer — 1881–1957; member of the Académie des sciences from 1936
Рекорды и первые достижения
- REP 1 of 1907 was the first metal-framed monoplane to fly, per French Wikipedia
- Control stick patented 1906–1907
R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie), year by year
Laboratory set up at Boulogne-sur-Seine
Établissements Esnault-Pelterie founded; aileron experiments
REP 1 first powered flight at Buc
Factory opens on rue de Silly
Vickers begins licence-building REP monoplanes
REP Type N introduced; Ottoman service in the Balkan Wars
Type Ns scout at the First Battle of the Marne
Caproni licence signed for Lyon-Bron
L’Astronautique published
Everything people ask about R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie)
What does REP stand for?
Did Esnault-Pelterie invent the joystick?
What was the REP Type N?
Why is Esnault-Pelterie famous in spaceflight?
Around R.E.P. (Robert Esnault-Pelterie)
Все факты проверены.
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie — Wikipedia
- Robert Esnault-Pelterie — Wikipedia (French)
- REP Type N — Wikipedia
Подтверждено 03.10.2026.