The Comte AC-1 was a 1920s

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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 ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

produced by Flugzeugbau A. Comte.

Design and development

The Swiss company Flugzeugbau A. Comte was established in the early 1920s to build

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aircraft designs under licence. The company's first original design was the Comte AC-1, developed to meet a Swiss Fliegertruppe (Swiss Air Force) requirement for a single-seat fighter. The AC-1 was a high-wing

with fixed tailskid undercarriage. It was constructed of metal with fabric-covered wing and tail surfaces. The

powerplant Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

was a

Gnome et Rhône Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licen ...

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 ...

driving a fixed-pitched 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 ...

. The AC-1

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

first flew on 1927. Testing and evaluation did not result in any orders but the prototype was bought by the Swiss Fliegertrupppe. The prototype was the only unit constructed of this type.

Operational history

The prototype was acquired by the Swiss Fliegetruppe and later had the wing replaced with a wing from a Dewoitine D.9. With the new wing the aircraft was used to establish a Swiss altitude record on 19 November 1928.

Operators

; * Swiss Fliegertruppe

Specifications (AC-1)

Design and development

Operational history

Operators

Specifications (AC-1)

References

Further reading