The Caudron Type B was a 1911 development of the earliest Caudron type, the Caudron Type A, with a

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

style fuselage and more powerful engine. Initially an equal span

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 ...

, it was modified into a

sesquiplane 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 a ...

Design and development

Pilots of the earliest Caudron aircraft, the Caudron Type A, sat unprotected on the wing. One Type A placed the

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

engine and pilot within a short, unskinned

frame, mounted above the lower wing and the Type Abis introduced a similar but enclosed nacelle with an open

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 ...

. This became the standard arrangement on Caudron's twin-boom

s from the Type B to the

Caudron Type F The Caudron Type F was a French single seat biplane produced just before World War I. A dozen were bought by China and at least two other examples, with different engines, competed in 1913, coming first and second in the biplane category of the c ...

and, with minor modification, through to the widely used

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Caudron G.3 The Caudron G.3 was a single-engined French sesquiplane built by Caudron, widely used in World War I as a reconnaissance aircraft and trainer. Development The Caudron G.3 was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as a development of their earli ...

. In its original form, the Type B was an equal span, wire braced two bay biplane, though the inner bay was only about half the width of the outer. The two spar fabric covered wings had the same rectangular plan apart from angled tips. There was no stagger, so the three sets of parallel interplane struts were parallel and vertical; the innermost pair defined the centre section and supported the nacelle with the assistance of further

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. The rear spar was ahead of mid-

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 ( ...

, leaving the

rib In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

s in the rear part of the wing flexible and allowing

roll control Roll or Rolls may refer to: Movement about the longitudinal axis * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff body (for example a vehicle), describing motion about the longitudinal axis ** Roll (aviation), ...

by wing warping. A second Type B, the B2 which appeared in August 1911 with similar wings, was six months later modified into a sesquiplane with an upper wing span of , a lower span of and a total wing area of . The upper overhang was supported by parallel, outward leaning struts from the bases of the outer interplane struts. Many later Caudron designs were similarly braced sesquiplanes. The nacelle was a simple, flat sided structure with the Gnome Omega rotary engine in the front. A Anzani 6-cylinder

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

may also have been fitted. There was a transversely mounted, cylindrical fuel tank behind the engine, its upper half visible at the front of the open cockpit. Initially the Caudron catalogue described the type B as a three-seater, then as a two-seater, with the pilot always in the extreme rear of the nacelle. Photographs show the B in its earliest form with two aboard, then later, after another tank had been fitted in the gap between the nacelle and lower wing, with three. The

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

of the type B was supported on a pair of girders arranged parallel to one another in plan. The upper girder members were attached to the upper wing spars at the tops of the innermost interplane struts and the lower ones ran under the lower wing, mounted on interplane strut extensions. These lower members, which supported the aircraft on the ground as skids, each carried twin landing wheels and curved upwards ahead of them, strengthened by diagonal struts back to the forward interplane strut under the wing. Behind the wing the upper and lower members converged to the rear. There were three vertical cross braces on each girder but the only lateral inter-girder struts were near the tail, though there was wire bracing. The broad chord, roughly rectangular, warping

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 ...

was mounted a little below the upper girder member. Above it, a pair of 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 separated by one third of the tailplane span. The Type B first flew on 28 January 1911. The European Circuit competition which started in June 1911 involved flights between towns in France,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Duval took part with the Caudron Type Abis but had to abandon it towards the end of the fifth stage, near

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. He collected the Type B from the Caudron factory at

Rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bl ...

on 4 July and flew it via

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

, destinations on the English part of the circuit. In 1912 the B2 was bought by Auguste Maïcon who announced that on 16 February he would begin a flight to

Porto Maurizio Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and thence to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. Details of his journey are not known but on 18 August he flew from Allasio, some from Porto Maurizio, to

, a flight of . Another but unrelated Type B appeared in Caudron's 1912 catalogue, the Type B Multiplace. It was a large three bay biplane with wings of unequal span and, uniquely for Caudrons of the period 1910-15, a conventional enclosed, full length

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

. As the name asserts, it was intended to carry several passengers.

Variants

;Type B: Originally equal span wing, later modified to

. 1 built. ;Type B2: Similar to B, with similar later wing modifications. 1 built.

Specifications (Type B, equal span wings)

References

{{Caudron aircraft 1910s French aircraft TB Sesquiplanes Rotary-engined aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1911