Faced with an upscale auto market dominated by Rolls-Royce, Delage, Bugatti and other prestigious marques, Messier soon concentrated solely on the design and production of aircraft landing gear and related equipment.
His first clients were Levasseur and Farman. In 1932, Messier oleopneumatic landing gear were specified for all Potez 25 biplanes, replacing the previous landing gear that used spring washers and confirming the benefits offered by this new technology. At the same time, Messier developed drum brakes for aircraft, directly derived from car brakes.
In 1929, George Messier built the world’s first machine capable of testing landing gear at a constant descent speed. Combined with the development of a dedicated flying testbed in 1931, this placed Messier at the forefront of technical developments for landing gear and hydraulic controls, in large part based on a change to high operating pressures.
Following the premature death of George Messier in 1933, the company was directed by his original partner, René Lucien, who would continue at the helm for nearly sixty years.
In 1937, the company shortened its name to Messier, after its illustrious founder, “the landing gear specialist”. It was heaquartered at 58 rue Fénelon in Montrouge, a suburb immediately south of Paris.
The Bloch 151 fighter made its first flight in 1937. The landing gear actuators on this plane also functioned as the lower gear struts, with locking provided by a mechanical “claw” system, a patented technology that is still used today.
Messier built a second plant in 1938, located in Bidos in southwest France (Pyrenees), that would produce 25 to 30 landing gear sets a months.
Through 1939, Messier developed over 100 landing gear prototypes. The widespread changeover to retractable landing gear opened up a whole new market.
In 1939, Messier provided landing gear for 85% of French military aircraft. The company also sold equipment to many different countries, and its products were produced under license in the U.K., Belgium, Romania and Switzerland.
With the outbreak of World War II, René Lucien moved production operations from Montrouge to an underground plant in Saumur, which had been set up in only four months. However, as the German army advanced, the company withdrew completely to Bidos. It would restart operations at Montrouge in July 1945, with a workforce of 250.
Hydraulics quickly became a critical part of all aircraft. Messier gradually added to its portfolio the design and production of all hydraulic systems used in aircraft:
power distribution/servo-control
sequencing systems (uplocks)
thrust reverser control systems
self-regulating pumps.
Messier had up to 2,400 employees in the 1960s, mainly at Montrouge, Molsheim and Bidos. It quickly became known as "The European landing gear specialist".
The aircraft industry saw startling technical progress after the war, with a constant demand for higher and higher performance. Messier stepped up its own R&D activities, focusing on raw materials and the development of new products.
In 1952, Messier developed the first steel aircraft brake, used on the Fouga 70. It also came up with "Ministop", a braking control system that heralded modern control systems.
Production of landing gear for the Mirage III kicked off in 1959 at Bidos. Over the years, the plant would produce more than 6,700 components and subassemblies for this landmark fighter.
During the 1960s Messier produced the first landing gear for the Concorde – an achievement for which a team at the Molsheim plant won an award as the “best workers in France”.
In 1966, as part of the joint French-British Jaguar aircraft program, Messier signed a cooperation agreement with English counterpart Dowty for the production of wheels, brakes, antiskid systems and hydraulic braking systems, covering both original equipment and spare parts.
Messier had 2,360 employees in 1970. The following year, its landing gear business was merged with that of Hispano-Suiza, creating the company Messier-Hispano. At the same time, it started production of landing gear for the first Airbus jetliners.
From 1972 to 1977, Bugatti’s wheels and brakes operations were moved to Montrouge, and the company merged with Messier-Hispano in 1977; the new logo incorporated the Messier eagle, the Hispano stork and the Bugatti oval. This new company would count up to 3,000 employees.
The company name was simplified to Messier-Bugatti in 1990, with the hyphen between the two names in the form of the Bugatti oval. The new baseline became “Landing and braking is our business”. That same year the Bugatti brand name was sold to Bugatti International, which restarted automobile production in Italy. Messier-Bugatti was no longer in the auto business.
