One day in 1930, Biscarosse was struck by fate.
A fate that nothing could have predicted...
It was chosen by Pierre-Georges Latécoère to become the assembly and testing site for France's largest seaplanes.
“I've redone all the calculations. They confirm the experts' opinion: our idea is unfeasible. There's only one thing left for us to do: make it happen.” Pierre-Georges Latécoère
The lake at Biscarrosse thus saw the departure of more than 120 gigantic seaplanes.
They were known as the “ocean liners of the air.”
They flew to New York or Fort-de-France with pilots such as Mermoz, Guillaumet, and Saint-Exupéry at the controls, all of whom made their mark on the history of aviation.
In August 1979, the Association des Amis du Musée des Hydravions (Friends of the Seaplane Museum Association) was created.
The following year, it organized the 50th anniversary of the Latécoère Company's Assembly and Flight Test Base.
This event was quickly followed by the creation of a museum in 1982 dedicated to the history of seaplane aviation.
Today, the Biscarrosse Seaplane Museum is a municipal museum with the “Musée de France” label.
Unique in Europe and located on the legendary site of the former base, the museum tells this story and that of seaplane aviation worldwide, inviting visitors on a journey between sky and water.
It offers archives, photographic documents, old maps, autographs, original editions, flight suits, decorations, uniforms, logbooks, flight logs, personal souvenirs of famous pilots, spare parts, engines, propellers, seaplane models, some of which are very old, interior decorations, original paintings and reproductions, posters, advertising documents from the period, and more.
This historical presentation occupies 850 m² of floor space, some of which is period-appropriate as it was used to house workers at the Hourtiquets seaplane base.
Full-size seaplanes are extremely rare today.
In the large 480 m² exhibition hall, 12 seaplanes from 1912 to the 1980s, either restored or undergoing restoration, are on display.
Through the exhibitions, featuring over 1,000 objects, you will discover the importance of seaplanes in the history of aviation and learn that these flying machines have not completely disappeared and could once again become an option for air transport.
Musée de l'Hydraviation (Seaplane Museum)
332, Avenue Louis Breguet,
40600 Biscarrosse
Tel.: +33 (0)5 58 78 00 65
www.hydravions-biscarrosse.com
