M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
HUMBER monoplane (Le Blon Type)
Hubert Le Blon was a racing motorist who later took to aviation with Leon Delagrange, but was killed in a crash in Spain on 2 April 1910, soon after the machine he designed for Humber was exhibited at the Olympia Show. It embodied a number of original design features but interest in it died with its creator.
The fuselage consisted of a long tapered tube of light wooden monocoque construction covered with fabric. It was small in diameter and the pilot sat outside with his legs straddling the monocoque to operate the rudder bar. The fuselage hung below the wings, which were joined together by tubular center section spars that were integrated to the cabane, the engine mounting and the undercarriage. The main members of the latter were two large diameter shaped steel tubes joined below by a straight cross member, from the ends of which, short laminated springs carried the cross axle and bicycle type wheels. The tail was supported by a long curved ash tail-skid.
The center section of the wings was completely open. The wings themselves were braced with steel tapes and the entire trailing edge portions were hinged to serve the dual purpose of ailerons and camber changing flaps.
The tail unit was comprised of a long tapering fin, with rudder of equispaced areas above and below the fuselage centerline, with a shape that curved forwards at the trailing edge. The tailplane was of the type with end elevators, mounted below the fuselage and could be adjusted for incidence on the ground. The tailplane was itself supplemented by a long tapering extension earned forward below the fuselage.
Power: 30hp Humber three-cylinder air-cooled fan-type semiradial driving a 6ft 6in diameter (6ft 11in)* Chauviere propeller
Data
Span 29ft (29ft 2in)*
Chord 6ft 6in (6ft 10in)*
Length 26ft 8in (24ft)*
Area 192 sq ft (186 sq ft)*
Area tailplane 16 1/2 sq ft plus extension
Area elevators 11 sq ft
Area rudder 6 sq ft (10 sq ft)*
Weight 490 lb (480 lb)*
Price ?480
* Alternatives from The Aero
P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Humber-Le Blon Monoplane
At the 1910 Olympia Aero Show, Humber Ltd., of Coventry, exhibited a single-seat tractor monoplane designed by Mons. Hubert le Blon, who had been chief mechanic to Leon Delagrange. The machine incorporated several innovations, among them variable-camber wings and a fuselage which resembled the body of a dragonfly. This was of tapering circular section and consisted of a hollow wooden boom bound externally with tape. The engine was the three-cylinder 30 h.p. Humber, with a propeller of 7 ft. diameter. The very simple landing-gear consisted of a steel-tube frame carrying two wheels mounted on laminated springs. Span, 29 ft. 2 ins. Length, 24 ft. Wing area, 186 sq. ft. Weight empty. 495 lb. Price, ?480.
Журнал Flight
Flight, March 12, 1910
THE SECOND OLYMPIA AERO SHOW.
AEROPLANES.
Humber.
Two British-built monoplanes of the Bleriot type are on view on Messrs. Humber's stand, as well as a monoplane and a biplane designed by Capt. Lovelace. The main planes of the last-mentioned are of 41 '6 span, and the total lifting surface is 526 sq. ft. The Lovelace type monoplane is of 29 ft. span with a total lifting surface of 232 sq. ft. In each the engine fitted is a 50-h.p. 4-cyl. water-cooled Humber.
