The Caudron Type A was the first successful aircraft built by René Caudron and his brother Gaston. During 1910 the Caudron brothers were briefly associated with the Société Anonyme Français d'Aviation (S.A.F.A.), and an example of the type was exhibited at the 1910 Paris Aero Salon as the S.A.F.A. Biplane.

Design and development

The Caudron brothers began aviation experimentation in 1908, building a large

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 ...

which they intended to power using a pair of Farcot engines. However the engines were never delivered, and instead it was flown by René as a

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 ...

, being towed into the air by a horse. Cauldron Type A

This experiment was followed by the Caudron Type A No.1 which was a two-bay equal

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

pusher configured

. Much smaller and lighter than the glider, Type A No 1 was fitted with a three-cylinder

Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani (1877–1956), which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy. Overview From his native Italy, An ...

engine mounted on the lower wing to the pilots left, driving a two bladed propeller via a chain and driveshaft. Four booms carried a fixed rectangular horizontal surface which could be warped uniformly to act as an

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

or differentially, combined with the

wing-warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

, to aid lateral control. A pair of small rectangular

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 were mounted above the

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

. The upper pair of booms were attached to the upper wing, as in other contemporary designs, but the lower pair were connected to the lower wing by struts and continued forwards and curved upwards to form the skids of the undercarriage. This distinctive arrangement was to become a characteristic of later Caudron aircraft. The aircraft was substantially damaged in a crash on its 9th flight, and during rebuilding the engine installation was modified so that the engine drove the pusher propeller directly. Type A No.2 was the second aircraft built differing in having the engine mounted in a mid-gap position in front of the pilot driving a tractor configured propeller and in having interplane

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 located between the upper and lower wings for lateral control. The Type A bis was a larger two-seat airframe with a five-cylinder Anzani engine of .

Variants

;Type A No.1 :First prototype with wing warping and pusher propeller. One built. ;Type A No.2 :Tractor propeller and mid-span ailerons. Three built. ;Type A ''bis'' :Two seat version. Three built.

Specifications (Type A)

References

* Munson, Kenneth. ''Pioneer Aircraft 1903–1914''. London: Blandford 1969. * Opdycke, L. ''French Aeroplanes before the Great War''. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999

External links

"The S.A.F.A. Biplane"
''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', 31 December 1910
Caudron A
{{Caudron aircraft TA Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1910