SPAD
From OnAirpower.org
SPAD
The SPAD (Société Provisoire des Aéroplanes Deperdussin or alternately Société pour les Appareils Deperdussin) aircraft manufacturing company was formed in Bétheny, France in 1910 by Belgian businessman Armand Deperdussin.
On August 5, 1914, Deperdussin was arrested on charges of embezzlement. The SPAD board of directors were forced to find a new director for the company, and chose prominent French aviator Louis Blériot. Under Blériot a new company, the Societe Anonyme por l'Aviation et ses Derives, was formed in August, 1914 and took over the assets of the original SPAD while retaining its acronym[1].
