The Wibault 13C.1 Trombe (Whirlwind), later known as the Wib 130C.1 Trombe was a single seat,

parasol wing 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 ...

lightweight

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

designed and built in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the 1920s. It was developed into the more powerful Wib 170C.1 Tornade (Tornado) but government interest in lightweight fighters soon waned.

Design and development

The Wib 13 was Avions Marcel Wibault's response to a call from the Service Technique de l'Aéronautique (S.T.Aé, Technical Department of Aeronautics) for a ''chasseur légere'' (light fighter). The call, which set out what became known as the ''Jockey'' programme, was intended to reduce the ever-increasing weight and cost of fighters. The general design of the Wib 13 followed the pattern set by Wibault's earlier single seat, parasol wing fighters, the Wib 3 and Wib 7 but it was smaller and lighter. An all-metal aircraft, its structure was mostly

Duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...

covered with narrow aluminium strips applied longitudinally. The parasol wing was straight edged and of constant chord, braced to the lower

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 ...

with a pair of parallel

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 ...

s on each side which met the wing at about mid-span and were strengthened by a pair of

jury 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 c ...

s to the wing underside. There were

cabane 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 over the fuselage and a

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. ...

cut-out in the wing over the pilot's

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 ...

to enhance his visibility. A pair of synchronised

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

s fixed to the fuselage fired forwards through the

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

arc. The Wib 13's initially

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 ...

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 ...

was lowered after flight testing and external bracing added. Tailplane and

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 ...

were nearly triangular, the latter bearing a

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 ...

which extended down to the

base, moving between split

elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...

. The Wib 13's water-cooled V-12 Hispano-Suiza 12Jb engine was totally enclosed under a

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

which fitted closely around each cylinder bank. It drove a two blade

and was cooled by a

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 ...

on the fuselage underside at the rear of the engine. Behind the engine the fuselage was flat sided. The fighter had a fixed

conventional undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

with mainwheels on a split axle attached to the fuselage underside, supported by a pair of V-struts; there was a small tailskid. By the time the aircraft was flight tested at Villacoublay in 1926 it was known as the Wib 130; around this time several French manufacturers settled on a consistent three digit form for their types numbers. It was assessed as manoeuvrable and robust but somewhat underpowered. Wibault therefore produced the Wib 170 Tornade, which used the same wings, empennage, undercarriage and armament as the Wib 130 but had a more powerful Hispano-Suiza 12Jb

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 ...

which provided . The fuselage was similar in construction and appearance to that of its predecessor though slightly () longer. The fuel capacity was increased by 14%. The extra power improved the maximum speed at sea level by 13%, though the empty weight was up by 8%. The Tornade was first seen in public at the Paris ''Salon d'Aéronautique'' in December 1928 and was test flown at Villacoublay early the following year. As well as being faster it had a significantly better climb rate than the Trombe and received all-round good reports. By this time, though the S.T.Aé had lost faith in the chasseur legére concept and wrote off the Jockey programme as a failure.

Variants

C.1=Chasseur (fighter), single seat ;Wib 130 Trombe C.1: Hispano-Suiza 12Jb engine. One built. ;Wib 170 Tornade C.1:

Hispano-Suiza 12H Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

b engine. Two built.

Specifications (Wib 170 Tornade)

References

{{Wibault aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft 1920s French fighter aircraft Wib 170 Single-engined tractor aircraft