Antoinette IV

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.

Antoinette IV
Antoinette IV in flight
Role Experimental aircraft
Manufacturer Antoinette
Designer Léon Levavasseur
First flight October 19, 1908 (1908-10-19)
Number built 1

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.[1][2][3][4]

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.[5] Both pilots survived, but Dickson was so badly injured that he never flew again.[6][7][8]

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 Armament

See also

References
  1. "Flying Triumphs of the Monoplane". Bunbury Herald. XIX (3180). Western Australia. 15 July 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 8 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "CROSSING THE CHANNEL". The Brisbane Courier. LXVI (16, 076). Queensland, Australia. 21 July 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "MARVELS OF THE MONOPLANE". Kalgoorlie Miner. 15 (4312). Western Australia. 26 July 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia., ...His monoplane, the Antoinette IV., was built to his. designs by M. Levasseur...
  4. "HUBERT LATHAM'S FEAT". Evening Journal. XLIII (11992). South Australia. 3 September 1909. p. 2. Retrieved 8 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. 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.
  6. "Aeroplanes in Collision". Popular Mechanics. January 1911. p. 91.
  7. "The Milan Aviation Meeting, Italy, 1910". Science Museum Pictorial. Science and Society Picture Library. 1910. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  8. "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
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