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.
Показать полностью
J.Davilla Italian Aviation in the First World War. Vol.2: Aircraft A-H (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 74)
Gabardini
Giuseppe Gabardini was a Turin artist who became interested in aviation and in 1910 designed and built a seaplane. In 1912, Carlo Carbone backed Gabardini when he acquired the Restelli Motors Company of Milan. The following year the AVIS company, which built Voisin designs under license in Cameri (Novara), also joined Gabardini’s company. The advantage of taking over AVIS was that it had an airfield and production workshops. It also had a large tower to allow aerial activities to be observed.
Guido Paolucci had flown the first Gabardini monoplane to Taliedo on 15 March 1913. The aircraft’s engine was a 50-hp Gnome engine and the control system used wing warping. Unusually for the time, the forward fuselage was made of metal.The frames were not welded but only held by metal tie rods to facilitate repairs. The wings had steel tube spars and wooden ribs, with cloth covering, aside from the metal parts of the fuselage.
This basic layout and construction was used in all Gabardini’s monoplane designs; what varied were the engines and the shape of the rudder. This was also true for his biplanes.
A series of long distance flights to and from Milan followed, with Rome, Turin, and Venice being visited.
A floatplane version was also developed and flown from Sesto Calends to Rome in December 1913.
On 27 July 1914 Achille Landini, who became the chief pilot of Gabardini took off from Cameri with a passenger in an attempt to cross the Alps. During the flight a height of 4,300 m had been reached; three hours later the Gabardini landed at Viege (Switzerland) after covering 140 km.
In March 1914 Gabardini founded the Cameri a flight school with the financial help of his cousin Charles Carbone and pilot Achille Landini.
The Gabarda, which was a generic nickname for all the company’s aircraft, were used to fulfill an Esercito contract for pilot training. The Gabardini School graduated 1,500 military pilots during the war. Each class had between 500 and 700 students and there were, on average, 200 training aircraft available.
The Gabardini courses consisted of ground training, then taxying on a “penguin”. The student then advanced to a Gabardini with a 50-hp Gnome for short takeoffs and then to the 80-hp Gnome (or Le Rhone) variant for flight training. Using this system a dual control aircraft was not felt to be needed; the student was advanced gradually to more powerful aircraft until he was able to solo.
This system required hundreds of trainers, which Gabardini was able to supply. In 1917 it became Aeroplani Gabardini S.A., with around 1,100 employees.
The Gabardini training center continue to flourish after the war as its military contracts extended until the 1930s.
1913-1918 Types
Gabardini Monoplane Trainers
The Gabardini monoplane proved to have good flight characteristics, making them ideal for use as trainers. First flown in 1913, these robust aircraft would prove to be the cornerstone of Gabardini’s school as well as his aircraft company.
In April 1913 Gabardini took part in the Concorso Militaire, but his aircraft failed to garner an order from the military (in fact, none of the entrants received any contracts).
Gabardini Aircraft Designations
Prewar
Gabardini G.2 - 1913
Variants
Alpi - Two-seater monoplane built almost entirely of metal, with wings with the wing spars constructed of steel tubes and with wooden ribs covered in cloth. The fuselage was constructed from welded steel tubes with he forward portion covered in sheet metal and the rear in canvas. The fuselage was very deep to accommodate the pilot and the passenger. The rear of the aircraft had a distinctive triangular shape. The tailpipes were made from welded steel tube covered in canvas. The undercarriage had legs made of steel tubing with a central wooden skid to act as a brake and prevent the machine from nosing over. The center axle was supported by bungee shock absorbers. The Alpi design could be fitted with 80-hp Gnome or Le Rhone engines.
It assumed the named Alpi when Gabardini chief test pilot Achille Landini and professor Giovanni Lampugnani used it to cross Monte Rosa on 27 July 1914. During the flight over the alps they reached a height of 4,500 m. in a 140 km flight losing three hours.
Gabardini Alpi two-seat trainer with one 80-hp Gnome engine
Wingspan 12 m; length 8 m; height 2.55 m; wing area 25 sq m
Empty weight 500 kg; loaded weight 700 kg; payload, 200 kg
Maximum speed 110km/h; ceiling 4,500 m
Gabardini Idrovolante (Seaplane)
A version of the Alpi monoplane fitted with two main front floats. The twin floats had a flat bottom and cylindrical float mounted at the tail supported it at sea. It was fitted with the 80-hp Gnome rotary engine driving a Neri propeller which had hollow blades of reduced diameter. The aircraft was also fitted with a lightweight armor developed for seaplanes.
In October 1913 the Gabardini seaplane participated in the Italian Lakes Circuit, piloted by Filippo Cevasco, but it performed poorly. Camurati suggests that was due as much to the pilot’s unfamiliarity with the aircraft as it was to design flaws in the idrovolante, itself.
In December, with the design problems addressed and having had time to become more acquainted with the seaplane, Cevasco competed in the Sesto Calende-Genoa-Livorno-Rome long distance flight.
Unfortunately on 2 June 1914 Cevasco crashed at Sesto Calende, while attempting to set a height record for seaplanes. The machine had suffered an engine failure and overturned while the pilot attempted to ditch. This was almost certainly a survivable crash, but the pilot did not know how to swim.
Further development was abandoned.
Gabarda - This aircraft was the result of Gabardini’s decision to focus his entire output on training machines after Italy declared war on Germany and Austro-Hungary.
Without changing the design and internal structure of the previous monoplane, he built several versions, varying the dimensional characteristics according to the power of the engine used, in order to better respond to the various stages of instruction. The Gabardini training philosophy was that, as the student advanced through the course, he would fly aircraft of increasing performance unit he soloed. This enabled Gabardini to minimize the use of instructors at his school.
The training syllabus would proceed as follows:
- penguin ground trained to teach taxying and familiarize the student with the aircraft’s controls
- 35-hp Anzani engine
- 50-hp Gnome rotary engine
- 80-hp Gnome or Le Rhone engine. Sometimes a 80-hp Maxim engine was used.
These aircraft became collectively known by the name “Gabarda”.
Gabardini produced over 200 monoplane trainers with 35, 50, and 80-hp engines of various types.
Foreign Service
Argentina - From the type 1913 monoplane, Gabardini developed an improved version, the type 1914. used by an Argentinian flight school. No evidence for military use.
Brazil - Examples of the monoplane were sent to Brazil, but none appeared to have been purchased by the Army or Navy.
Ecuador - In 1912 Ecuador purchased some monoplanes to equip the flight school set up by Attilio Lanzini in Guyaquil.
Gabardini type 1913 two-seat trainer with one 80-hp Gnome engine
Wingspan 12.00 m; length 8.00 m;
Height 2,85 m; wing surface area 25.00 sq m
Empty weight 500 kg; loaded weight 700 kg;
Maximum speed 110 km/h; range: 4,000 ms
Показать полностью
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.
Показать полностью
