The R.E.P. 'Parasol' Type L was a military

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

aircraft designed and produced in France by

Robert Esnault-Pelterie Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian Kons ...

(hence R.E.P.) in 1914.Taylor 1989, p.758

Design and development

It was a wire-braced, parasol-wing monoplane with a fixed, tailskid undercarriage.Davilla & Soltan 2002, p.430 In France it was usually described as "Monoplan R.E.P. à ailes surélevées" (literally monoplane R.E.P. with elevated wings), and also as the "R.E.P. Vision Totale" (R.E.P. Total Vision). The fuselage was constructed of steel tube and was of triangular cross-section, with the apex on the ventral side. The pilot and observer sat in tandem, open cockpits. Lateral control was by

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposite direc ...

, using a complex fan of cables above and below the wings. The upper cables were carried over a pylon of tandem struts, strut braced across the top.Marsden, 1994, p.43 Two versions were produced: a single-seater with a 45-kW (60-hp)

le Rhône Le Rhône was the name given to a series of popular rotary aircraft engines produced in France by Société des Moteurs Le Rhône and the successor company of Gnome et Rhône. They powered a number of military aircraft types of the First World ...

engine, and a two-seater with a 60-kW (80-hp)

Gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

engine. It was armed with one machine-gun.

Operational history

While France's ''

Aéronautique Militaire The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Arm ...

'' did not purchase the design, and continued to use the Type N,Davilla & Soltan 2002, p.431 Britain's

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

purchased twelve examples. (serial no's 8454–8465). The first of these were delivered in August 1915 and were used during the early stages of the First World War. The RNAS operated from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Erroll Boyd James Erroll Dunsford Boyd (November 22, 1891 – November 27, 1960) was a pioneering Canadian aviator. He was known as the "Lindbergh of Canada" before becoming an American citizen in 1941. Biography James Erroll Dunsford Boyd, known to his fa ...

from No.1 Wing, was on a bombing mission along the coast of Belgium, when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. It made a forced landing in the Netherlands in and was interned there.Smyth, 1997, pp.27–28 The aircraft was subsequently purchased from the United Kingdom, repaired and entered Dutch military service on November 3, 1915 as LA23 (in 1918 this aircraft was reregistered as REP-3). It was later used for taxiing training.Jonker

Operators

; *

** No.1 Wing ** No.4 Wing ; * Luchtvaartafdeeling

Specifications (R.E.P. Parasol two seater)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Esnault-Pelterie aircraft 1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft REP aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1914 Rotary-engined aircraft