The Schneider Sch.10M was an all-metal, twin-boom, twin-engine French aircraft from the mid-1920s, intended as a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

and with strong defensive armament. Only one was built.

Design and development

The Schneider Sch-10M was an unusual aircraft in several ways. It was a twin-engine,

twin-boom A twin-boom aircraft is characterised by two longitudinal booms (extended nacelle-like bodies). The booms may contain ancillary items such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for other items. Typically, twin tailbooms support ...

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 ...

design built entirely from metal, both its structure and skin made from Schneider's own aluminium alloy called "Alferium". It was intended for bombing, and carried photographic and radio equipment for observation, so needed strong defensive armament; the design was influenced by the need to give its two gunners the maximum field of fire. It had a

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 ...

, single-piece, two-

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

wing, its covering, like that of the central

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 ...

and

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

corrugated with a separation of about . In plan, the wing was rectangular between the fuselage and booms and slightly straight tapered outboard. The central fuselage was rectangular in section and contained three open

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 ...

s. The pilots sat side by side in a wide cockpit over the wing

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, ...

with one gunner in the extreme nose and the other where the fuselage began to fall away rapidly, ending at the wing

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

. To improve the defence against attacks from below, the rear gunner could also fire through a trapdoor in the floor. The two beams were covered in smooth Alferium; behind the wing they were inverted, convex teardop-shaped in section and tapered to the tail. At the front, each had a

Lorraine-Dietrich 12Db The Lorraine 12D, also referred to as Lorraine-Dietrich 12D, was a series of water-cooled V12 engines produced by the French company Lorraine-Dietrich. The first variant began production in 1917, and the engines were used to power bombers for th ...

water-cooled 12-cylinder upright

V-12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fir ...

driving a two-blade propeller. The

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

s were placed on both sides of the cowlings, and the fuel tanks were in the booms behind the engines, seen as a relatively safe place in case of attack. Each main wheel of the wide track, tailskid undercarriage was rubber-sprung on a V

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

enclosed by a bulged and tapered continuous extension of the boom underside. At the rear the booms were linked by a rectangular

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 ...

carrying 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, ...

. The booms mounted small

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 ...

s with deep,

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevators and ...

s. The Sch-10M appeared at the Paris Aero Show in December 1924 and flew for the first time in March 1925; only one was built. There are few contemporary reports on it after the Show.

Specifications

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , date=December 1924 , title=Avions Schneider, journal=L'Aéronautique, volume=2, issue=13, page=52, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6567596v/f383.image {{cite magazine , date=1–15 January 1925 , title=Quelques charactéristiques des avions du Salon, magazine=L'Aérophile, volume=1925 , issue=1-2 , page=6, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553816b/f12.image {{cite magazine , date=1–15 January 1925 , title=Aprés les 9^e Salon de l'Aéronautique, magazine=L'Aérophile, volume=1925 , issue=1-2 , page=2, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553816b/f12.image {{cite magazine, date=18 December 1924, title=The Schneider All-Metal Monoplane, magazine=

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

, volume=XVI, issue=5, pages=801–2 , url= http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1924/1924%20-%200801.html {{cite journal , date=13 December 1924 , title=Etablissments Schneider, journal=Le Génie Civil , volume=LXXXV, issue=24, pages=546–7, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6487729f/f11.image {{cite web , url=http://www.aviafrance.com/schneider-sch-10m-aviation-france-2456.htm, title=Aviafrance: Schneider Sch-10M, last1=Parmentier, first1=Bruno , date=8 December 2017 , language=fr , location=Paris , accessdate=24 February 2015 1920s French bomber aircraft Twin-boom aircraft