Antoinette VIII
| Antoinette VIII | |
|---|---|
| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Antoinette |
| Designer | Léon Levavasseur |
| First flight | 15 August 1909 |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | Antoinette IV |
The Antoinette VIII was a French pioneering aircraft flown in 1909, a development in the series of monoplanes designed by Léon Levavasseur beginning with the Antoinette IV.[1][2][3] It was one of a number of Antoinette designs flown at the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne (Great Aviation Week in Champagne) in August 1909.[3]
Relatively little is known about this aircraft today.[4]
Design
[edit]The Antoinette VIII was a high-wing, wire-braced monoplane of conventional layout. The fuselage was a monocoque structure, triangular in cross-section.[1] The vertical tail extended above and below the horizontal stabilizer.[1] The pilot sat in an open cockpit,[1] and directional control was achieved by wing-warping.[1][2] Power was supplied by a piston engine in the nose driving a tractor propeller. The aircraft was fitted with conventional undercarriage.
Operational history
[edit]The Antoinette VIII first flew on 15 August 1909[1][5][3] with Antoinette test pilot[3] Émile Ruchonette at the controls.[1][3] He made a series of short flights in it that day, ending in a hard landing.[1] Ruchonnette made a number of other flights in the aircraft during August and September.[1] The longest of these was a flight of 16 minutes on 17 August at Mourmelon.[1][3]
The aircraft competed in the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne (Great Aviation Week in Champagne) later in August[5][3] under the race number 11[3] but failed to win any prizes.[5]
Another flight by Ruchonette on 6 September also ended in a hard landing,[1] but aviation historian Charles Gibbs-Smith notes the aircraft as still flying after the end of the year.[3]
Specifications
[edit]Data from Dumas 1909, p.149
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Wing area: 50 m2 (540 sq ft)
- Gross weight: 520 kg (1,146 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Antoinette 8V liquid-cooled, 8-cylinder V engine, 37 kW (50 hp)
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Dumas, Alexandre (1909). Stud Book de l'Aviation [Stud Book of Aviation] (in French). Paris: Edition du journal l'Aero.
- Gibbs-Smith, Charles H. (1966). A Directory and Nomenclature of the First Aeroplanes 1809 to 1909. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. Vol. 1. London: Aerospace Publishing. 1981.
- Munson, Kenneth (1969). Pioneer Aircraft 1903–14. London: Blandford.
- Opdycke, Leonard E. (1999). French Aircraft Before the Great War. Atglen, PA: Schiffer.