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The Antoinette III, originally called the Ferber IX or Aeroplane Ferber n° 9,
[ in Ferber book ''L'aviation; ses débuts- son développement'', pages 81-82] was an early experimental aircraft flown in France. It was based on
Ferdinand Ferber
Louis Ferdinand Ferber (8 February 1862 – 22 September 1909) was a French Army officer who played an important role in the development of aviation during the early 1900s. Although his aircraft experiments were belatedly successful, his early ...
's previous design the Ferber n°8, and was quite unlike other Antoinette aircraft. It was renamed when Ferber became a director of the Antoinette company.
The Antoinette III was a two-bay
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 ...
without a
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 ...
or any other enclosure for the pilot. A single
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, ...
was carried on outriggers ahead of the aircraft, and a fixed
fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
and
horizontal stabiliser
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 gyroplan ...
behind. The
undercarriage
Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include:
*The landing gear of an aircraft.
*The ch ...
was of bicycle configuration and included small outriggers near the wingtips. Power was provided by an
Antoinette 8V
The Antoinette 8V was an early French eight-cylinder, liquid-cooled, V engine, the first series production gasoline-fueled, spark plug ignition engine of any kind produced with manifold injection. It was typically rated at . First produced in ...
water cooled V-8 engine driving a
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 ...
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 ...
.
Between July and September 1908, Ferber made a series of progressively longer flights in the machine, the longest recorded being on 15 September when he covered in 9 minutes.
Specifications
See also
Notes
References
*Opdycke Leonard E. ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War'' Atglen, PA: 1999
* Taylor M.J.H. ''Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation.'' London: Studio Editions, 1989 p. 63
* ''World Aircraft Information Files.'' Brightstar Publishing: London. File 889 Sheet 63.
The Pioneers:An Anthology
{{Antoinette aircraft and aero engines
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
1900s French experimental aircraft
Antoinette aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1908