Founder Henry Potez | Founded 1916 | |
The Société d'Études Aéronautiques (SEA) ("Society for Aeronautical Studies") was a French aircraft manufacturer founded in 1916 by Henry Potez, Marcel Bloch, and Louis Coroller at Suresnes.
The company originally built SPAD VII fighters under licence, but soon began original designs, one of which (the SEA IV) was selected for production for the French military during World War I. Once orders for 1,000 aircraft had been placed, Potez and Bloch founded a separate company to undertake their production. This venture, Compagnie Anjou Aéronautique ("Anjou Aeronautical Company"), was established at Angers with a new partner Julien Bessonneau, but when the end of the war caused the cancellation of production orders, both this firm and SEA were both wound up. Potez and Bloch went on to found their own separate and highly successful companies shortly thereafter.
The Société d'Etudes Aéronautiques, a Belgian firm of the same name established in 1936 was unrelated.