The history of BNAE

In 1877, the French authorities decided to found the Etablissement Central de l'Aérostation Militaire de Chalais-Meudon, the world's first aeronautical laboratory. The establishment was headed by the young 30-year-old Captain Charles Renard. The laboratory's mission was to design all French military aerostatic equipment from components produced by industry, and to train men in its use. With orders soaring, Captain Renard was faced with supply problems as early as 1879. He limited the choice of ropes and lines needed to hold the balloons and attach them to the basket, and defined their dimensions based on basic values and a series of numbers known as the “Renard series”. The Renard series, which has since been used in many sectors to determine the successive dimensions of unified objects, represents the first standardization work in the aeronautical field.

Until 1939-40, the standardization of equipment and products intended for civil and military aeronautics was carried out by the Services Techniques de l'Aéronautique (STAé) within the framework of the Ministry of Air's own regulations. The administration took the initiative in drawing up standards, and the industry was consulted, but the approval of standards and their application were of an authoritarian, regulatory nature.

In 1941, the Bureau de Normalisation de l'Aéronautique (BNAé) was set up under the aegis of the French Ministry, the Commissariat à la Normalisation and the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR). The BNAé received successive support from various aeronautical organizations. In June 1963, at the joint initiative of the aviation industry and the Aeronautical Technical and Industrial Department, the association was created under its current non-profit status, declared under the French Law of 1901: Bureau de Normalisation de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace (BNAE). In 1968, after submission of the required file to the Conseil d'Etat, and with the support of the supervisory authorities, the Association was recognized as a public utility. By decision of September 24 1984, the Ministers of Defense, Transport and Industry approved BNAE as a standardization office, in accordance with the provisions of article 8 of decree no. 84-74 of January 26 1984. Its remit is standardization in the field of aeronautical and space design and construction.