__NOTOC__ The A-12 was an unusual tailless

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

Georges Abrial Georges Abrial (1898 in Paris – 1970 in Vauville, Manche) was an early France, French aerodynamics, aerodynamicist. Life After graduating from the St Cyr Aeronautical Institute he worked for Pierre Levasseur (aircraft builder), Levasseur (Levass ...

in the early 1930s. It was not a success and was abandoned in 1932.

Design

The Abrial A-12 was unusual in having a very low aspect ratio wing, even by the standards of its time. Other tailless gliders of the 1920s, notably the Lippisch Storch series had aspect ratios of about 8, compared with the 4.75 of the Abrial. Further, where the Storchs had swept wings the Abrial's was rectangular in plan. After encouraging tests of models in the

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

at St Cyr, Abrial built a full-sized version. The Abrial's wings had the designer's own reflexed camber aerofoil. Such aerofoils are useful for tailless aircraft, because the

pitching moment In aerodynamics, the pitching moment on an airfoil is the moment (or torque) produced by the aerodynamic force on the airfoil if that aerodynamic force is considered to be applied, not at the center of pressure, but at the aerodynamic center o ...

about the aerodynamic centre of the wing can be zero. The wings were mounted with strong dihedral and braced from above by a V-

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

on each side, their apexes meeting at a faired triangular central support structure. It had control surfaces on the wings which may have operated as

elevon Elevons or tailerons are aircraft control surfaces that combine the functions of the elevator (used for pitch control) and the aileron (used for roll control), hence the name. They are frequently used on tailless aircraft such as flying wings. ...

s and

trapezoidal A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium (). A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eucli ...

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

s mounted on triangular

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

s at the wing tips. The pilot's unenclosed seat was immediately in front of the central support structure, at the centre of the wing, with his feet on a rudder bar ahead of the

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

. The Abrial landed on a skid, with little wheels under the wing tips. Abrial named the A-12

Bagoas Bagoas (Old Iranian: ''Bagāvahyā'', grc, Βαγώας ''Bagōas''; died 336 BCE) was a prominent Persian official who served as the vizier (Chief Minister) of the Achaemenid Empire until his death. Biography Bagoas was a eunuch who later bec ...

, after the Persian

Vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

and poisoner. Its first flights were made during the first week of July 1932. It presented so many technical problems that he abandoned development later that year.

Specifications

References

{{Abrial aircraft 1930s French experimental aircraft 1930s French sailplanes

Tailless aircraft Low-wing aircraft Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1932

Design

Specifications

See also

References