The French military was so impressed with the power and reliability of the 150 HP Hispano-Suiza engine that they asked aircraft designer Louis Bechereau to develop an aircraft specifically for it.  Bechereau had achieved notoriety as a designer for the Deperdussin company.  Louis Bleriot later bought the Deperdussin company and kept the talented staff of designers including Bechereau.  The name was changed to Societé Anonyme pour l’Aviation et ses Derives (Society for Aviation and its Derivatives), and the SPAD name was born.

The Spad VII had excellent diving ability and strength.  It was also quite fast and was used quite successfully by France’s top pilots of the war including Georges Guynemer.

The Aerodrome’s SPAD VII is a reproduction built by the late Carl Swanson who spent a good part of his life building reproductions of World War I fighters.  It was acquired by the Aerodrome in the spring of 1999 and was the last aircraft that Mr. Swanson built before he passed away.  It is finished in the colors of one of the SPADs flown by Capt. Georges Guynemer.