Photos: In photo 1 on this page, the Hanriot is the aircraft nearest the camera.
The aircraft was capable of being converted to land use, replacing the pontoons
with either wheels or skis.
#5 (HD 17)
was named "Aizsargs". This aircraft was purchased in France with
money from donations. It was transported from France to Liepaja on
the ship "Stella".
July 30, 1924 - the official acceptance date. The plane was carried
by ship (Virsaitis) to Riga and brought to the shore near the
presidential palace, where the ceremony took place. In addition to the usual officials, the
ceremony was attended by seven Estonian aviators who were visiting Riga on a Goodwill flight.
Nikolajs Jevlampjevs was the first latvian to fly #5 at the July 30 ceremony, and he
remained as the only one to fly this precious airplane until October 26th.
In 1924, #5 logged the following air time: July - 8.55 hours; August - 13.4 hours;
September - 17.05 hours and in October - 4.5 hours.
1925 - Hanriot #5 begins to serve as an instruction machine for new naval aviators.
January 22, 1925 - S.Meijers, a former czarist naval aviator, makes his first latvian
naval flight, in Hanriot #5.
January 25, 1925 - Herberts Cukurs makes his first naval solo flight in #5.
In January, 1925 Hanriot #5 logged 11.25 hours of flight time.
February 22, 1925 - #5 is slightly damanged. S.Meijers is officially chastised for his
handling of the aircraft in this incident.
March 19, 1925 - Ansis Sleine makes his first solo flight.
September 15, 1925 - Ansis Akmenkalns makes his first solo flight.
March 23, 1927 - Hanriot #5 is crashed by J.Bilmanis and, after so many training incidents
and repairs, it is deemed to be past repair. On November 16, 1928 is officially struck from active service.
#7 (HD 19a)
The latvian naval section was very pleased with the performance and sturdiness of the
first Hanriot, so they purchased a second machine in 1925. They were both intended to
serve primarily as trainers for naval aviators. For some reason, the second aircraft did not perform
as well as the first, and this even led to a military justice hearing with N.Jevlampjevs defending his
assessment in accepting the aircraft (for details see N.Jevlampjevs biography page).
July 19, 1925 - Karlis Skaubitis flies Hanriot #7.
November 24, 1928 - Hanriot #7 is crashed and deemed to be beyond repair.
March 2, 1929 - The aircraft is officially struck from active service.
Sources
Bruvelis, Edvins. Latvijas Aviacijas Vesture
