The Voisin Type de Course 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 ...
aircraft built by
Voisin Frères. It was first flown early in 1910.
Design and development
The 1910 Type de Course was designed by Gabriel Voisin as a racing aircraft to take part in the many competitions being held at the time. A development of his highly successful
1907 biplane, it was a two-seater
two-bay pusher configuration
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
with an
elevator (aircraft)
Elevators are flight control surfaces, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft's pitch, and therefore the angle of attack and the lift of the wing. The elevators are usually hinged to the tailplane or horizontal stab ...
mounted on the upcurved front of the
nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
and rear-mounted
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 ...
carried on two pairs of booms carrying the tail surfaces.
The first aircraft flown, built for
, had a single rudder above the stabiliser and a fixed fin below: some later examples differed slightly. The structure made extensive use of metal: the
nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
was constructed of circular and elliptical section nickel-steel tubing, the interplane struts were steel and the wings had steel spars and wooden ribs. Importantly, it differed from the earlier Voisin aircraft in having provision for lateral control in the form of
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, which allowed Voisin to dispense with the "side-curtains" between the wings characteristic of his earlier aircraft. Rougier's aircraft had biplane mid-gap ailerons mounted on the front outer pair of interplane struts. The undercarriage consisted of a pair of mainwheels under the wings, a large nosewheel carried between a pair of inverted V-struts under the front of the nacelle and a small tailwheel mounted on the bottom of the fin. It was powered by a 50 hp
E.N.V. water-cooled V8.
[
The first example was flown by Rougier on the 13 April 1910. A second aircraft built for René Métrot differed in having monoplane ailerons, two rudders and an uncovered nacelle.]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 ...
and the 4-cylinder Gobron
Gobron ( ka, გობრონი, tr) also known as Mikel-Gobron or Michael-Gobron () (died November 17, 914) was a Christian Georgian military commander who led the defense of the fortress of Q'ueli against the Sajid emir of Azerbaijan. When t ...
. Six were flown at the second Reims Grande Semaine d'Aviation, but without any success in any of the competitions.
Specifications
Notes
References
Opdycke, Leonard E ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999
{{Voisin aircraft
Type de Course
1910s French sport aircraft
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1910