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The Gastambide-Mengin monoplane (later Gastambide-Mengin I, Gastambide-Mengin II and Antoinette II) was an early
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
experimental aircraft
An experimental aircraft is an aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts.
The term ''research aircraft'' or ''testbed aircraft'', by contrast, generally denotes aircraft modified to perform scientific studies, ...
designed by
Léon Levavasseur
Léon Levavasseur (8 January 1863 – 26 February 1922) was a French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and liquid engine cooling. Primarily associated with th ...
, and was the first aircraft built by the
Antoinette company.
The name came from
Jules Gastambide, who financed the company, and
Gabriel Mengin, the aircraft engineer.
Design and development
The monoplane (later known as the Gastambide-Mengin I) was powered by a
Antoinette piston engine driving a tractor propeller.
It was noted for having a complex quadricycle landing gear.
The monoplane made four flights between 8 and 14 February 1908 flown by a mechanic named Boyer, the furthest being a flight of 150 m.
After these flights, the aircraft was rebuilt between February and August 1908 as the Gastambide-Mengin II (later named the Antoinette II), the modifications including revised,
trailing edge-hinged triangular ailerons.
The modified aircraft made three short flights in August 1908, one of these on 21 August 1908 being the first circle flown by a monoplane, and on a flight the previous day (20 August 1908) Robert Gastambide became the first passenger flown in a monoplane.
With lessons learnt from the design, Levavasseur went on to design a family of monoplanes named after Antoinette Gastambide, the daughter of Jules Gastambide.
Specifications
See also
*
Antoinette III
*
Antoinette IV
*
Antoinette V
*
Antoinette VI
*
Antoinette VII
*
Antoinette military monoplane
*
Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin, designer of a similar aircraft, 1910
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
www.aviafrance.com
{{Antoinette aircraft and aero engines
1900s French experimental aircraft
Antoinette aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Shoulder-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1908