The Caudron C.640 Typhon was a 1930s

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 ...

high-speed single-seat

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

utility aircraft built by

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

History

Similar in concept to the

de Havilland DH.88 Comet The de Havilland DH.88 Comet is a British two-seat, twin-engined aircraft built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was developed specifically to participate in the 1934 England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race from the United Kingdom to A ...

the Typhon (en: ''Typhoon'') was designed by Georges Otfinovsky and

Marcel Riffard Marcel Riffard (1886–1981) was a French aeronautical engineer. In the 1930s, while working at the design department of Caudron-Renault, he designed a series of racer aircraft, as well as utility aircraft such as the Caudron Simoun The Caudron ...

for use on long-range postal routes. The first aircraft first flew on 17 June 1935. The aircraft was a twin- engined low-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

monoplane of wooden construction. Seven C.640s were built. The Typhon established 5000 km speed records. It was not a success in operation as its flexible wings experienced

buffeting Aeroelasticity is the branch of physics and engineering studying the interactions between the inertial, elastic, and aerodynamic forces occurring while an elastic body is exposed to a fluid flow. The study of aeroelasticity may be broadly classi ...

and vibration problems.

Variants

*C.640 Typhon - production model with

6Q engines, 7 built. *C.641 Typhon - record breaking version with raised canopy and increased fuel capacity, 2 built. *C.670 Typhon - prototype high-speed bomber version with a crew of three, similar to the C.640 but with increased dimensions and weights, one built.

Operators

; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

; *

Romanian Air Force The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) ( ro, Forțele Aeriene Române) is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one ai ...

Specifications (C.640)

References

;Notes *

External links

Photo at Aviafrance
{{Caudron aircraft 1930s French mailplanes 1930s French civil utility aircraft C.640 Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft