Wassmer

Wassmer was a French specialized woodworking company formed by Bernard Wassmer in 1905. It later became an aircraft manufacturer specializing in gliders. It was bought out by Issoire Aviation, a subsidiary of Siren, in 1978.

Logo of the company.

Aircraft production

The company entered into aircraft production in 1955 when it produced under licence a batch of Jodel D.112 two-seater aircraft at its factory at Issoire. The company also produced the single-seat WA-20 and two-seat WA-30 gliders. In 1959 the company produced the WA-40 Super IV a four-seat touring aircraft.

In 1972 in co-operation with Siren they formed a joint company Consortium Europeén de Réalisation et de Ventes d'Avions (CERVA) to build a metal variant of the WA4/21, itself a variant of the WA-40. The components for the Cerva CE.43 Guépard were manufactured by Siren at Argenton-sur-Creuse and final assembly, equipment fitting and flight testing was carried out by Wassmer at Issoire. The company also co-operated with the CE-75 sailplane.

In a move-away from the traditional woodworking heritage of the company it soon developed the ability to produce plastic or composite construction which led to the WA-50 series of four-seat aircraft. The company's last aircraft design was the WA-80 Piranha a two-seat trainer which was a scaled-down version of the WA-50.

With both the WA-80 and different variants of the WA-50 in production the company had working capital problems. A receiver was appointed in 1977, and production was stopped. On 1 February 1978 Issoire Aviation, a company set up by Siren, bought the assets of Wassmer and used the former Issoire factory to build gliders and to continue to support Wassmer products.

Wassmer aircraft

Cerva aircraft

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wassmer.
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (part work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 1985.
  • Simpson, R. W. (1991). Airlife's General Aviation. England: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-194-X.
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