The Voisin ''Icare'' Aero-yacht was an early flying boat built by Voisin Frères for the oil magnate and promoter of early aviation experimentation

Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe (; 25 September 1846 – 24 November 1919), born Salomon Henry Deutsch, was a successful France, French petroleum businessman (known as the "Oil King of Europe"Howard, Fred, ''Wilbur & Orville: A Biography'', Dover Pu ...

. It first flew in 1912.

Design and development

It was initially built as a four-bay unequal-span

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 ...

. The wings, which had trailing edge ailerons mounted on the upper surfaces only, were mounted on top of a Ricochet motorboat hull. A 200 hp (150 kW) Clerget engine drove a four bladed

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 ...

propeller mounted mid-gap via a chain. The inverted-T configuration

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 ...

was mounted on booms. It carried six passengers, and had provision for an armament of two cannon. It was later modified by extending the lower wing and fitting inset ailerons to both upper and lower wings. It was first flown as a landplane on 23 November 1912 at

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

The Deutsch Aero-Yacht Flies
light magazine 30 November 1912 with the full complement of six passengers.

Specifications

Notes

References

* Opdycke, Leonard E ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999 {{Voisin aircraft Icare Aero-Yacht 1910s French experimental aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Rotary-engined aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1912