Light aircraft in Egypt 1933

[Schneiderman]

Here's one to identify, photo taken at Almaza, Cairo, in November 1933.
Hesham, this is your territory, can you provide a name?

 

[hesham]

Hard to say my dear Schneiderman,

but I will search.

 

[Hood]

Why does this picture seem familiar?
Have you checked Aviation Historian? I can't help thinking I've seen this picture in relation to an Imperial Airways article, the picture being taken during a stopover. I will have to have a rummage around.

 

[Schneiderman]

Well not in the article I wrote . A quick flick through a dozen or so editions turned up nothing but I'll keep digging.
The scan I posted is from Aeroplane 29th Nov 1933. I don't have that one in my collection and it will be a couple of weeks before I can look at the whole magazine for clues.

 

[Romantic Technofreak]

Hi Forum,

I hope this one is not a toy. Although Egypt is not very much known for producing experimental aircraft, this one is, as I mean having read, to be sorted to this country. But I found no further information about it.

Can you give some, e.g. the name?

Thank you, and best regards,
RT

 

[hesham]

We spoke about it here,

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/light-aircraft-in-egypt-1933.32141/

 

[Romantic Technofreak]

Hi to Hesham and especially to British friends,

thank you for this link. Quick search resulted in finding "The Aeroplane" being or having been a British magazine. I am a bit used doing historic research in Germany. Here, we can get articles from old magazines by library services. As you see, contributor Schneiderman announced to look but did not come up again with this theme until to the present day.

My question is: are there British contributors who are familiar with library services and be willing to look if "The Aeroplane" from Nov. 29th, 1933, is avialable?

Thanks once more, and regards,
RT

 

[hesham]

Hi,

may the answer certainly is in Jane's All the World's Aircraft,and I know dear Woodville has
most of these early issues,he can provide us the solution.

 

[fortrena]

I have a feeling the Egyptian light aircraft in question might be the aircraft, described as a Mignet HM-8 Avionnette, completed in late 1932 in Egypt by a budding Franco-Egyptian engineer, 22 or 23 year old François-J. Rokéach.

That machine was mentioned in the May 4th, 1933 issue of the French weekly Les Ailes. The article can be found at https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6556847t/f8.image.r=(prOx: "francois" 3 "rokéach")?rk=21459;2, provided the link works. If Rokéach's HM-8 is indeed the Egyptian light aircraft mentioned above, it seemingly underwent some modifications between May and November 1933. The fairing on top of the wing and the decoration on the rudder come to mind.

The article mentioned that Rokéach had begun work on a new, slightly bigger and more powerful machine.

The HM-8 was seemingly not Rokéach's first foray in aircraft making. If one is to believe https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4522218j/f2.item.r=(prOx: "rokéach" 25 "égypte").zoom, and I do hope the link to the French-language article in L'Alliance franco-annamite of April 10th, 1932 works, he had just completed an otherwise unidentified folding wing light aircraft, in Angers, France.

A photo of that as yet unfinished machine can be found at https://www.retronews.fr/journal/le-petit-courrier/11-decembre-1931/2205/3765309/1, with information in French on the 3rd page of that December 11th, 1931, issue of Le Petit Courrier, a daily published in Angers.

Incidentally, in 1930 or 1931, a powered model airplane Rokéach had put together won a 2nd prize, in Bourges, France. The young man had also designed a wing folding mechanism in 1931, in Vierzon, France, a town located not too far from Bourges. Rokéach might have been living (or studying??) in France at the time.

 

[woodville]

Here is the entry for Rokeach from the Trait D'Union series Les Constructeurs Français 1919-1945. A Google translation precedes the French original. The article goes on to mention that Rokeach was working on a low wing monoplane of 9.5 m span in 1933 but it is not known if it was built.
Jane's coverage of interwar aircraft is far from complete & it's no surprise that I couldn't find any mention of it there.

 

[woodville]

The same photo of this aircraft appears on page 92 of Air Power & The Arab World 1909-1955 Volume 4. Unfortunately the article only attributes the machine to "an unnamed Egyptian engineer".

 

[Romantic Technofreak]

Sorry to be late, but I was busy and this forum's software does not send notes when an answer came (maybe I can switch something?).

For me, it looks like Fortrena and Woddville are perfectly right. François-J. Rokéach tried to convert a Mignet Avionette into something more useful by placing the motor out of the pilot's sight, but keeping the airscrew in the same position like before, thus preserving its size.

Although the denomination is still not officially cleared, I mean it is justified to store it as "Rokéach Avionette".

What I found out about the "The Aeroplane" is that the rights now are held by - Key Publishing! Maybe I should return to Key Aero to make them look in their archives?

Thanks once more, and best regards,
RT

 

[Arjen]

this forum's software does not send notes when an answer came (maybe I can switch something?).

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