The TNCA Series C Microplano was a single-engine, single-seat fighter designed and built in Mexico during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Design

From 1915 the ''Talleres Nacionales de Construcciones Aeronáuticas'' - (National Aeronautical Construction Workshops), sometimes known as the Military Aviation Factory, produced several series of Mexican aircraft. Some of these were based on European designs but others were indigenous. Pressure for local designs and production was increased by the concentration of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an manufacturers on war production, in addition to the tensions between Mexico and the United States. In 1917 rights to build

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Hispano-Suiza engines was acquired and a factory established. The Series C Microplano was an unequal span single bay biplane, with wings without sweep or stagger connected by pairs of vertical, parallel

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s on each side, the forward ones a little closer to the

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 aircraf ...

. Both wings had constant chord and squared tips. There was a triangular cut-out in the

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, 199 ...

of the upper wing to improve the pilot's view. The Microplano had a flat sided, rectangular section fuselage. The nose housed a 115 kW (157 hp) Hispano-Suiza water-cooled engine, driving a two bladed propeller. Behind the underwing single seat open cockpit the fuselage narrowed strongly in both height and width. Both the near circular

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 air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

and semi-circular

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 gyropla ...

were all-moving. There was a fixed conventional undercarriage with mainwheels on V-form struts, assisted by a tailskid.

Specifications

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title=Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I, last=Taylor , first=Michael, year=2001, publisher= Jane's Publishing Company, location=London, isbn=1-85170-347-0, pages=214 1910s Mexican military aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1918