Antoinette IV

Antoinette IV
Antoinette IV in flight
Role Experimental aircraft
Manufacturer Antoinette
Designer Léon Levavasseur
First flight 19 October 1908
Number built 1

The Antoinette IV was an early French monoplane. It was a high-wing aircraft with a fuselage of extremely narrow triangular cross-section and a cruciform tail. Power was provided by a V8 engine of Léon Levavasseur's own design driving a paddle-bladed tractor propeller. Lateral control was at first effected with large triangular, and shortly afterwards trapezoidal-planform ailerons hinged to the trailing edge of the wings, although wing-warping was substituted at an early stage in flight trials, and in this type proved more effective.

On 19 February 1909, the Antoinette IV flew 5 km (3.1 mi) at Mourmelon-le-Grand, and on 19 July, Hubert Latham attempted to cross the English Channel in it, covering 11 km (6.8 mi) out of Sangatte before making a forced water landing due to engine failure.

On 3 October 1910, Frenchman René Thomas, flying the Antoinette IV, collided with British Army Captain Bertram Dickson by ramming his Farman III biplane in the rear.[1] Both pilots survived, but Dickson was so badly injured that he never flew again.[2][3][4]

Specifications

General characteristics

  • Crew: one, pilot
  • Length: 11.50 m (37 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 12.80 m (42 ft 0 in)
  • Wing area: 50 m2 (538 ft2)
  • Empty weight: 250 kg (550 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Antoinette 8V, 37 kW (50 hp)

Performance

See also

References

  1. ↑ Villard, Henry Serrano (1 January 1968). CONTACT! The Story of the Early Birds Man's first decade of flight from Kitty Hawk to World War I. Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
  2. ↑ "Aeroplanes in Collision". Popular Mechanics. January 1911. p. 91.
  3. ↑ "The Milan Aviation Meeting, Italy, 1910". Science Museum Pictorial. Science and Society Picture Library. 1910. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Continental Flight Meetings". Flight. 8 October 1910. pp. 828–829. ...the Antoinette monoplane crashed on to the biplane, both machines falling to earth a mass of broken planes and tangled wires.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 63.
  • World Aircraft Information Files. Brightstar Publishing: London. File 889 Sheet 63.
  • Hubert Latham: Windkiller
  • Hubert Latham
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.