The Caudron C.220 was a two-seat

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

trainer. Only two were built, using different engines.

Design and development

The Caudron C.220 basic trainer was a

single bay A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

biplane with two pairs of parallel interplane struts aided by wire bracing and two pairs of parallel

cabane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s between the upper wing and the upper fuselage

longeron In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

s. The wings were rectangular in plan and of similar

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

though the upper span was about 3% greater. The wings were built from

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

and fabric covered.

Aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s were carried on the lower wing only. The C.220 was powered by a Salmson 7AC seven cylinder radial engine driving a metal, two blade

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. One photograph shows the engine uncowled though the second aircraft, the C.221, which had a Lorraine 5P five cylinder radial and was otherwise identical apart from using a different make of propeller, was recorded both with and without a narrow chord Townend ring type cowling. Behind the engine the fuselage was a box girder structure covered in

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

, though the upper decking was rounded. The forward of the two open tandem

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

s was placed between the wings at about mid-chord with the rear seat behind the trailing edge. The C.220 had a triangular fin and an unbalanced rudder with straight, parallel side and rounded top and bottom. The horizontal tail was fixed to the upper fuselage longerons. There was a fixed, tail wheel undercarriage. The C.220 first flew in 1929. In July 1931 it was successfully presented at the military testing centre at Villacoublay, along with two other intermediate trainer candidates, both monoplanes, the successful Hanriot LH.10 and the Morane-Saulnier MS.311.

Variants

;C.220: Salmson 7AC 7-cylinder radial engine, Chauvière metal propeller. ;C.221: Lorraine 5P 5-cylinder radial engine, Levasseur metal propeller. Otherwise as C.220.

Specifications (C.220)

References

{{Caudron aircraft C.220 1920s French civil trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1929