The GL.2 was a development of the
Gourdou-Leseurre Type A which had shown pleasing performance during testing but which had been ultimately rejected by the
Aéronautique Militaire due to concerns about the rigidity of the wing. The Type B featured not only a new wing design, now braced by four struts on either side in place of the two per side on the Type A, but also a revised fin and rudder for improved directional stability, and strengthened undercarriage. Twenty examples were delivered in November 1918, designated
GL.2C.1 in service, but the end of the war meant a loss of official interest. Gourdou-Leseurre continued development anyway, and by 1920 had an improved version, designated
GL.21 or
B2 ready for exhibition at the Paris ''
Salon de l'Aéronautique that year. This differed from the GL.2 mostly in having revised ailerons and a batch of twenty were purchased by the Aéronautique Militaire'', with another one being purchased by Finland for evaluation. Two years later, a further revision of the design appeared as the
GL.22 or
B3. This featured a redesigned wing of greater span, and modified horizontal stabiliser and landing gear. This proved to be a moderate success for Gourdou-Leseurre, selling 20 to the
Aéronautique Maritime as the
GL.22C.1, as well as 18 to Finland, 15 to Czechoslovakia, 15 to Estonia, one to Latvia, and Yugoslavia. This was followed by a small series of test aircraft designated
GL.23 or
B4 before manufacture of the GL.22 resumed in an unarmed version known internally to the company as the
B5 and purchased by both the
Aéronautique Militaire and
Aéronautique Maritime as the
GL.22ET.1 for use as an advanced trainer (
Ecole de Transition). One of these aircraft was used for trials aboard the
aircraft carrier Béarn. The
GL.24 version was produced in small numbers in 1925 for various trial purposes, including one two-seat trainer conversion, and one air ambulance (
TS –
Transport Sanitaire) exhibited at an international medical conference held in Paris that year. The GL.2 was also used as a display aircraft, with Gourdou-Leseurre test pilot
André Christiany flying one to win the speed trial in the 1923
Coupe Michelin, and two ET.1s painted in the tricolore giving displays throughout France and North Africa the same year. Even well into the 1930s, specialised aerobatic versions were produced as the
B6 and
B7 for
Jérôme Cavalli and
Fernand Malinvaud respectively, with a second B7 built for
Adrienne Bolland. ==Variants==