The SFCA Lignel 10 was a French single seat aircraft designed to bridge a training gap between basic trainers and front-line

fighters Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...

. The military requirement was soon dropped and only one was built.

Design and development

The Lignel 10 of 1938 was a wooden low wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

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 ...

, one in the series of Société Française de Construction Aéronautique designs stretching back to the 1935

SFCA Maillet 20 The SFCA Maillet 20 was a French three seat tourer built in 1935. The Armée de l'Air ordered 30 for training and liaison and several were raced. The aircraft was developed through 1935 via cockpit layout and canopy changes to the provision of r ...

. It was a single-seater, intended to meet a military requirement for a trainer that would assist the pupil's transition from simple two seat trainers to faster and more complex

with flaps and retractable undercarriages. The wings of the Lignel 10, like those of the rest of the series were in three parts, with a rectangular plan centre section without diheral and outer panels which, on the Lignel 10, had about 6° of dihedral. The

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

s of these outer panels were straight and only slightly swept but the trailing edges were increasingly curved towards the wing tips. Inset

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 and the split flaps were both on the outer panels. The Lignel 10 was powered by a

Renault 6Q The Renault 6Q, also called the Renault Bengali 6, is an air-cooled six-cylinder, inverted piston engine, producing about continuous power. It was designed and built in France and produced for more than ten years after its homologation in 19 ...

-03 air-cooled,

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

, inverted 6 cylinder inline engine. The

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

, enclosed under multi-part glazing, placed the pilot over the wing trailing edge. The rear

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 ...

was raised to continue the canopy line, dropping gently away to the tail. Its

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

tailplane 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 gyroplane ...

, the latter mounted at mid-fuselage, had straight, swept edges but rounded tips and carried round-edged, unbalanced control surfaces. The

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

extended down to the keel and worked in a small

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, ...

cut-out. Its tailwheel

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

had its main legs mounted at the outer ends of the wing centre section at about 40%

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

, retracting outwards into the outer wing panels, Each leg carried a single landing wheel. The Lignel 10 first flew in February 1938. It was undergoing tests at Villacoublay in July, completing them by December 1938. Only one was built as the military requirement was soon abandoned.

Specifications (Lignel 10)

Notes

References

{{SFCA aircraft 1930s French military trainer aircraft SFCA aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1938