The Gerin Varivol was a 1930s

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research aircraft designed and built by Jacques Gerin. Only one aircraft was flown during 1936 before it was destroyed in an accident.

Design and development

The Varivol was an odd looking

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 a deep and bulky

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

with a knife edge rear where the rudder was attached and a braced variable-incidence

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), 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 ...

was mounted on top of the rear fuselage. The unique feature of the aircraft were the two narrow-chord biplane wings in an inverted

sesquiplane 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 a ...

configuration. The wings were wire-braced and had one

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 struts, which act in ...

on each side. The upper wing normally had an area of but additional flexible surfaces inside the fuselage could be extended using an electrical motor to increase the wing area to . It was also possible to change the camber of the wings when extended. The Varivol was powered by a Salmson

radial piston engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is cal ...

with a two-bladed propeller. It was first tested in a wind tunnel at

Chalais-Meudon Chalais-Meudon is an aeronautical research and development centre in Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation. ...

before starting test flying in March 1936. The aircraft continued to fly successfully until November 1936 when it was destroyed in a fatal crash, an investigation determined the accident was not due to the variable-area wings.

Further developments

Further development of the Varivol concept was carried out with the Gérin 1938 V.6E Varivol Racer a sleek monoplane racing aircraft that was built just prior to and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, being put into storage after the war. The aircraft can be seen at the Musee Regional de l'Air at

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

in France.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerin 1936 Varivol Biplane 1930s French experimental aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1936 Sesquiplanes