The Wibault 9 or Wib 9 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 ...

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 a re-engined version of the relatively successful Wib 7, but failed to reach production.

Design

The Wib 9 Simoun was a version of the Wib 7 with the latter's 12-cylinder

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric) In mathematics, physics, and engineering, a Euclidean vector or simply a vector (sometimes called a geometric vector or spatial vector) ...

Gnome-Rhône 9A The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turn ...

d replaced by a water-cooled V-12 Hispano-Suiza 12Jb engine. It was designed and built during the competitive trials held in Villacoublay in 1926–1927, after which the lowly placed Wib 7 won a small order of 25 machines. Originally known as the Wib 71, the Hispano powered version was not completed until after these trials were over, by which time it had been redesignated the Wib 9. Apart from the engine installation and armament, the Wib 9 and Wib 7 were almost identical. They shared the same all-metal structure, 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. 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. The two designs shared the same flat sided

and angular

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 ...

, though the

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 ...

of the Wib 9 was noticeably broader. They shared similar split axle 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 ...

s. The dimensions were also the same apart from a increase in length resulting from the longer V-12 engine. Though the Wib 9 had both wing and fuselage mounted pairs of machine guns whereas the production Wib 7 had just the fuselage pair, a similar four gun arrangement had been trialled on the second prototype of the Wib 7. The engine installation of the Wib 9 was different from that of the radial engined Wib 7 but close to that used on the Wib 8, another V-12 Hispano powered aircraft. The engine was totally enclosed within 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 clearly followed the contours of the two cylinder banks and was cooled by a retractable, half-cylindrical

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 back of the engine. A two-bladed

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 ...

was fitted, as on all the Wibault parasol fighters. As well as being longer, the water-cooled V-12 was inevitably heavier than the air-cooled radial so the Wib 9 had an empty weight greater than the Wib 7, but with the fuel load reduced by 16% the loaded weights only differed by . The Wib 9 was flown for the first time no earlier than mid-1926. Limited flight trials suggested it was a little faster than the Wib 7 but no production contract followed and development was soon ended. Only one was built.

Specifications

References

{{Wibault aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Wibault 09 Wib 9 Single-engined tractor aircraft