The Dormoy Bathtub was a simple-to-construct,

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of the 1920s.

Design and development

The Bathtub was developed by Etienne Dormoy, a French engineer at McCook Field in

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as a simple low-cost and ultra-light aircraft. Dormoy would later design the

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. The aircraft used a steel tube

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 ...

, with an exposed tail section. The parasol wings used wood spars with fabric covering supported by steel lift struts. The

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 used steel control cables that were exposed in front of the

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of the wing. The engine was a modified Henderson motorcycle engine purchased for $325.

Operational history

The Dormoy Bathtub competed in the 1924 and 1925

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, winning the ''Rickenbacker Trophy'' in 1924. The 1925 model featured a fully covered tail section, removing its "bathtub" appearance. An example of a 1924 Dormoy Bathtub fuselage with a Heath-Henderson engine is on display at the Motorcycle Heritage Museum in Westerville, Ohio. A large scale model of a 1924 Dormoy Bathtub is on display at the International Sport Aviation Museum in Florida.

Variants

A homebuilt design was produced by Mike Kibrel, the Kimbrel Dormoy Bathtub Mk 1, using a

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Specifications (Dormoy Bathtub)

References

External links