(Levavasseur) Antoinette @·AIRCRAFTUBE

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Levavasseur Antoinette

The Antoinette was one of the most striking French aircraft of the Pioneer Age. The elegant boat-shaped fuselage and the advanced fuel-injected eight-cylinder Antoinette engine showed the unconventional design thinking of L&eacute;on Levavasseur, a former artist.

On 19 July 1909, Hubert Latham tried to make the first aerial crossing of the English Channel with this Antoinette, but came down 13 km out. Six days later Louis Blériot's attempt succeeded.

The "Société des avions et moteurs Antoinette"

Antoinette was a short-lived (1903-1912) French manufacturer of light gasoline engines which were quite advanced for that period. Antoinette also became a builder of distinctively graceful, record-breaking monoplane aircraft flown by Hubert Latham (1883-1912) and Rene Labouchere. The company, led by L&eacute;on Levavasseur (1863-1922) and based in Puteaux, also displayed a car with a 32hp V8 engine and hydraulic clutches, instead of a gearbox and differential, at the 1906 Paris Salon de l'Automobile. The following year, a 4 cylinder 16 hp (or 12 kW) engine and then a 30 hp (or 22 kW) V-8 engine were also made available to sportsmen by Antoinette. The last and most powerful Antoinette engine was a V-16 developing 100 horsepower (or 75 kW). It was mounted on an Antoinette VII monoplane in 1910 in order to compete in the Gordon-Bennett Cup. Lastly, Antoinette engines were also installed in fast boats built for racing purposes.

In October 1906, an Antoinette engine powered Europe's first heavier-than-air flying machine to fly, the Santos-Dumont 14-bis. However, the 14-bis was by definition not a true airplane because it lacked controllability in two out of three axes and could only fly straight ahead in ground effect. More significantly, in January 1908, a Voisin pusher biplane modified and piloted by Henri Farman successfully completed Europe's first 1 kilometer circular flight, landing where it had taken off. This Farman-Voisin biplane was powered by a water-cooled Antoinette V8 engine which developed 50 horsepower (or 37 kW) at 1,400 rpm. It used an early form of direct gasoline injection and weighed only 190 pounds in working order, including the water-filled cooling system. Its power-to-weight ratio was not surpassed for another 25 years.

Appearing in 1906, Antoinette's 25- and 50 horsepower engines gave European aviation its start. Excellent as they were, these lightweight aero engines were subject to quitting if the tiniest bit of dirt or debris found its way into the fuel to clog their early fuel injection systems. A routine practice at the time was to pour in the gasoline through a funnel lined with chamois leather, which also served as a microfilter. That the Antoinette engine could quit in flight is illustrated by Hubert Latham's aborted English Channel crossing on July 19th 1909, when the renowned aviator had to ditch his monoplane on the water halfway to the English coast. Blériot's monoplane succeeded a few days later, on July 25th 1909, largely thanks to a much simpler and more reliable 25 hp (or 19 kW) air-cooled Anzani 3W radial. It is only in 1909, with the advent of the 50 hp (or 37 kW) Gnome Omega rotary, early aviators like Farman gained a superb and distinctly more reliable French aero engine to choose from.

In 1907, an Antoinette engine powered the first true helicopter, designed by Paul Cornu.

Antoinette III

The Antoinette III (Originally, the Ferber IX) was an early experimental aircraft flown in France. It was based on designer Ferdinand Ferber's previous designs, and quite unlike other Antoinette aircraft. Its renaming occurred when Ferber became a director of the Antoinette company.

The Antoinette III was a two-bay biplane without a fuselage or any other enclosure for the pilot. A single elevator was carried on outriggers ahead of the aircraft, and a fixed fin and horizontal stabiliser behind. The undercarriage was of bicycle configuration and included small outriggers near the wingtips. Power was provided by an Antoinette V8 driving a tractor propeller.

Between July and September 1908, Ferber made a series of ever-longer flights in the machine, the longest recorded being on 15 September when he covered 9.65 km (6 miles) in 9 minutes.

Antoinette IV

The Antoinette IV was a high-wing aircraft with a fuselage of extremely narrow triangular cross-section and a cruciform tail. Power was provided by a V8 engine of Antoinette's own design driving a paddle-bladed tractor propeller. Lateral control was at first attempted with large ailerons hinged to the trailing edge of the wingtips - although wing-warping was substituted at an early stage in flight trials, and in this type proved more effective.

On 19 February 1909, the Antoinette IV flew 5 km (3 miles) at Mourmelon, and on 19 July, Hubert Latham attempted to cross the English Channel in it, covering 11 km (7 miles) out of Sangatte before making a forced water landing due to engine failure. On 26 August, the aircraft was used to set a world distance record of 154.6 km (96.1 miles), covering this distance in 2 hours 17 minutes.

Antoinette V

The Antoinette V was a development of the Antoinette IV, but replaced that type's ailerons with a wing-warping system controlled by two hand-wheels, one on each side of the pilot's seat. It made some 20 flights up to September 1909, the best of which lasted 15 minutes. Its performance proved inferior to its predecessor.

Antoinette VI

Flying for the first time on April 17, 1909, the Antoinette VI was a development of the Antoinette IV, its major technological advance being that it was fitted with true ailerons, whereas the former aircraft had ailerons mounted as separate surfaces on the trailing edges of the wings. Nevertheless, Levavasseur was not satisfied with this innovation and later modified the aircraft to use a wing warping system similar to that fitted to the Antoinette V.

Antoinette VII

The Antoinette VII was flown in 1909. It was a further development of the Antoinette IV, with increased engine power and using a wing warping system developed by Levavasseur for the Antoinette V in place of the Antoinette IV's ailerons. With this aircraft, Levavasseur hoped that Antoinette test pilot Hubert Latham would be able to make the crossing of the English Channel that he had previously attempted in the Antoinette IV and claim the Daily Mail prize then on offer. As it happened, the Antoinette VII's first flight took place on 25 July 1909, the same day that Louis Blériot succeeded in crossing the channel in his Blériot XI. Undaunted, Latham made the attempt anyway on 27 July. Unfortunately, the result was the same, with Latham making a forced landing this time within sight of the English coast only 1.6 km (1 mile) away. He and the aircraft were rescued by HMS Russell.

The following month, Latham flew the same aircraft at the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne, winning the prize for altitude (155 m, or 509 ft) and coming second for speed (with 68.9 km/h, or 42.8 mph).

Summary of aircraft built by Antoinette

Model First flight Note
Antoinette I   Never flown.
Antoinette II Febr 1908 known as the Gastambide-Mengin II
Antoinette III 1908 incremental improvements to the Gastambide-Mengin II
Antoinette IV 1908 Single-engine one-seat monoplane with aft-mounted aileron surfaces
Antoinette V 20 Dec 1908 Variant of Antoinette IV with wing warping instead of ailerons
Antoinette VI 1909 Variant of Antoinette V with true ailerons (later converted to wing warping)
Antoinette VII 1909 Further development of Antoinette IV with larger engine and wing warping
Antoinette VIII 1909 Further development of Antoinette IV with larger engine and wing warping
Antoinette military monoplane 1911 Proposed military development of Antoinette IV

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This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Antoinette (société) of Wikipedia ( authors )

Specifications (Antoinette IV of Late 1908)

  • Length: 37.70 ft (or 11.50 m)
  • Wingspan: 48.55 ft (or 14.80 m)
  • Wing area: 366 sq ft (or 34 m2).
  • Max take off weight: 1213 lbs (or 550 kg).
  • Powerplant: One Antoinette V8 engine.
  • Power: 50 hp (or 37 kW).

— — — = = — — —

This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Source : Article Antoinette (société) of Wikipedia ( authors )
Levavasseur Antoinette : Your comments on this subject
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