Jane's All The World Aircraft 1919

The Gabardini type of monoplane took the competent by storm when it first appeared in 1913 to the public.
   With two adult passengers and an 80 h.p. rotary engine, the late Philip Cevasco made a non-stop flight from Milan to Venice, and otherwise proved the powers of the machine to be quite exceptional and unusually well suited for all sorts of general conditions.
   With a smaller engine, the Gabardini was found to be ideal for training pilots, and so a large school and works were opened at Cameri, in 1914, and were got into swing in time for the work of preparation for war.
   Squat and inelegant and built largely of metal, the monoplanes are distinctive, not freakish nor reminiscent of any other aeroplane.
   Signor Gabardini, who at one time dedicated himself to art of another sort, is a Piemontese by birth, and cruelly crippled, mental energy alone being in his power of recent years. He has. however, the satisfaction of having produced one of the very few monoplanes which has survived the ban and disfavour into which single-deckers have fallen, and his joy therein is shewn by the pride with which he claims it the best, after trial, in all the world.
   The type has had a long testing during four war years of gruelling, with barely a modification, and that in the cockpit, in all that time.
   So responsive to control is the Gabardini that its designer states that "they answer the intangible helm of the pilot's intention before the material leverage has come into action."
   In flight, the Gabardini reminded one of the Antoinettes, curiously, since the design of the two is so entirely opposite. Up till now radial motor> are fitted, with rotaries for school machines.
   With a motor less costly in upkeep, the Gabardini monoplane is a machine which may. one hopes, become a useful means of commercial transport, being a good lander, a weight-earner and stable. A commercial traveller's vehicle possibly ?
   The work of training some 300 pilots carried on at Cameri has kept Signor Gabardini's designing energy rather in the background necessarily.
  
  
THE GABARDINI MONOPLANE.
Type of machine Tractor Monoplane.
Name or type No. of machine Gabardini.
Purpose for which intended Training Machine.
Span 10 m.
Total surface of wings 18 sq. m.
Engine type and h.p. 50 h.p. Gnome.
Performance.
   Speed low down 100 km.p.h.

Журнал Flight

Flight, November 6, 1914.

AEROPLANE TYPES.

THE GABARDINI MONOPLANE.

   ONE of the most successful machines which have been produced in Italy is the Gabardini monoplane, many of which have been turned out from the works at Cameri, Novara. Although a first glance at the accompanying sketch plan and elevation gives one the impression that this machine is on Nieuport lines, it really differs from this latter make considerably, notably in the construction of the fuselage. The latter is constructed of steel tube reinforced with wood, forming a strong and light combination. The forward portion is rectangular in section from the nose carrying the engine - an 80 h.p. Gnome - to the rear of the pilot's and passenger's cockpit, where the lower longerons meet. From this point the remainder of the fuselage is of triangular section. This arrangement gives an excellent streamline form, and also allows plenty of room for engine, fuel tanks, control gear, and pilot and passenger. The triangular portion of the fuselage can be detached, thus greatly facilitating transport and housing.
   The wings, which have a maximum camber of 190 mm., are built up on two main spars of tubular steel, upon which the ribs are loosely mounted so that they possess a certain amount of free movement when warping takes place. The ribs consist of single one-piece webs with top and bottom flanges. Holes are drilled in the webs of each rib for nearly the whole length, rendering the wing very light and strong. The empannage is somewhat unusual in that it is mounted well in advance of the vertical rudder, so that the latter has a wide range of movement. It consists of a fixed semicircular plane, with two similarly shaped elevator flaps hinged to the trailing edge. The fixed plane, elevators, and rudder are constructed of steel tubing. Lateral control is by wing warping operated by a central lever, which also controls the elevators. The rudder is actuated by pedals. The chassis consists of two skids, upturned in front to protect the propeller, connected to the fuselage by three struts each. A tubular axle carrying a pair of running wheels is mounted on the skids by means of elastic bands. A hydro, model is also made, which differs from the land machine in dimensions and in the attachment of the two floats. The principal dimensions of the land model are as follows :- Span, 9 m.; supporting area, 18 sq. m.; overall length, 7 m.; weight, empty, 350 kgs.; useful load, 350 kgs.; speed, 65-135 k.p.h.


Flight, June 18, 1915.

AN ITALIAN MONOPLANE THE GABARDINI.

   OF the several Italian-designed aeroplanes, the Gabardini monoplane, built at Cameri, is perhaps the most interesting and one of the most successful. It was the Gabardini monoplane that was employed for the first civilian aviation school at Cameri, whilst this make of machine has several non-stop flights to its credit, including Milan-Rome, Milan-Turin and Milan-Venice (with three passengers).
   The Gabardini monoplane - described in FLIGHT on November 6th last - although resembling somewhat the Nieuport, really differs from this French make considerably. For instance, it is built mostly of steel, whilst the body is peculiar in that from the nose to a point immediately behind the pilot's cockpit it is rectangular in section, after which it is of triangular section. The steel tubes forming the body are reinforced with wood, providing a light but extremely strong combination.
   The wings, which have an upturned entering edge, like the Nieuport, are built up on tubular steel spars with wood I-section ribs loosely mounted thereon so that there is a certain amount of free movement for warping. Another interesting feature is the tail planes, consisting of a semi-circular stabilising surface and two similarly shaped elevator flaps, which are mounted on the body some distance from the rudder, so that the latter has a wide range of action. The engine employed is an 80 h.p. Gnome, built in Italy by the Fabbrica Italiana Motori Gnome at Turin.