1:32 Hanriot HD.2 FLOAT

A fighter that took off from the water

The Hanriot HD.1 was a light French fighter biplane that the home air arm turned down, but which the Belgians and the Italians took a liking to; in Italy it was then built under license in hundreds of examples. The float counterpart of the same machine became the HD.2. Instead of wheels it was given a pair of floats, the power remained a Le Rhône rotary engine of around one hundred thirty horsepower, and the type kept its flying qualities: it was agile, easy to handle and forgiving of mistakes.

From coastal patrols to gun turrets

The float Hanriots patrolled over the coast and escorted ships. Several examples were bought by the US Navy, which used them to try out takeoffs from short platforms built over the gun turrets of battleships; some of the machines therefore later exchanged their floats for a wheeled undercarriage. The word FLOAT in the name separates precisely this water version from the version on wheels.

What awaits the builder

The real subject's span of 8.7 meters translates in 1:32 into roughly twenty-seven centimeters. The floats seat the finished aircraft higher than is usual with biplanes, so it pays to think through a stand or a base with a water surface before building even begins. The struts of the float undercarriage moreover hold the whole lower part of the structure, so they deserve careful dry fitting.

Float fighters remain a minority matter among modelers, and it is precisely for that reason that they are worth attention. Beside the ordinary land biplanes of the same period the finished piece comes across differently at first glance, whatever coat of paint it finally gets.