L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
Besson
Inspired by Voisin's canard, the designs of Marcel Besson raised expectations for performance which they did not always meet. They were built by Louis Clement, one of the few 1910 enthusiasts of all-metal construction. (Louis Clement is unrelated to Maurice Clement or Adolphe Clement-Bayard - he was also the French representative for the Aviatik aero engines.)
Besson's first canard design was nearly completed in August 1911 and was presented at the 1911 Salon de la Locomotion Aerienne. The all-steel fuselage alone weighed only 32 kg; the wings, of metal and wood, weighed only 62 kg; and the undercarriage 22 kg. The wings were rigid, without ailerons, but the tips could be warped up and down; a rudder was fixed on the nose. The pilot sat in the rear of the fully-covered fuselage, just forward of the buried engine which drove through a chain a pusher propeller mounted on the trailing edge of the wing. At the 1911 Salon, a second fuselage was shown beside the completed aircraft. It was tested in October 1911 at La Vidamee, near Chantilly, north of Paris, but it proved unstable.
(Span: 11.6 m; length: 7.5 m; wing area: 26 sqm; empty weight: 350 kg; propeller diameter: 2.5 m, pitch: 2.45 m; engines: Rossel-Aviatik 70 hp, 50 hp Clement-Bayard, 70 hp Labor)
Reports of the second Besson canard appeared in the press as early as March 1912; the completed machine was shown at the 1912 Exposition and was tested at Reims by the Army. It was a landplane, and a model of a seaplane version was shown beside it. The faired fuselage seating 3 ended in a long forward triangular outrigger with the tailplane mounted on top with elevators on the trailing edge, and a rudder mounted below. The wingtips no longer flexed, and were fitted with ailerons; the wheels castered.
(Span: (main) 13.5 m; (tailplane) 4 m; length: 6.6 m; wing area: 30 sqm; top speed: c 110 kmh; 80 hp Gnome)
A similar aircraft appeared as a floatplane, with 2 all-steel floats mounted so they splayed outwards as seen from the front, with a small float under the nose; the rudder was raised from the landplane version. In December 1912 it was being tested.
The fourth Besson design, probably never built, was for a flyingboat.
In July 1911, however, a "Besson and Pajo" biplane Type Speciale is mentioned in a brief press report as being tested with a 40 hp Labor motor at La Vidamee near Chantilly.
Jane's All The World Aircraft 1913
BESSON. Marcel Besson, 24 rue Marbeuf, Paris. Capacity: small. Besson first appeared in 1911 with a tail-first mono. In the Paris Salon, 1913, he exhibited an improved machine along similar lines.
1913
Canard 2-seater.
Length...........feet(m.) 22 (6.70)
Span.............feet(m.) 44 (13.40)
Area ......sq. feet (m?.) 323 (30)
Weight, machine...
...lbs.(kgs.) 730 (331.2)
Weight, useful...
...lbs.(kgs.) ...
Motor.................h.p. 70 Gnome
Speed..........m.p.h.(km.) 59 (95)
Number built during 1912... 1
Remarks.--All steel construction. On wheels and 2 skids. Control: ailerons and front elevator.
Журнал Flight
Flight, January 13, 1912.
PARIS AERO SHOW.
Besson Monoplane.
THIS interesting monoplane, in which most of the weight is disposed below the supporting surfaces, is of the tail first or "canard " type, so constructed in order to make it more suitable for the attachment of floats for hydro-aeroplane work. The pilot is seated in the fuselage below and slightly in advance of the wings, in which position he can gain a good view of what is beneath him and if necessary drop explosives with a considerable degree of accuracy. Ailerons are employed for lateral balance, these being governed from a control almost identical with that of the Voisin Canard. The motor, an Aviatic Rossel of 70-h.p., is arranged to the rear of the machine on a level slightly below that of the wings, and drives a Chauviere propeller of 2m. 50 diameter and 2m. 45 pitch.
Principal dimensions, &c. :-
Length 25 ft. Weight 725 lbs.
Span 38 ,, ; Speed 55 m.p.h.
Area 286 sq. ft. Motor 70-h.p. Aviatic Rossel
Flight, November 16, 1912.
THE PARIS AERO SALON.
Besson.
ALTHOUGH its general design remains the same, this machine has changed somewhat in its appearance since it made its debut at the last Paris Show. Then, the side elevation of the machine in the neighbourhood of the pilot's seat was such a curious one, and in fact so was the entire nature of the machine, that many were the questions asked as to the direction in which it flew. Further, it was rather humorous that after about three days of this there appeared on the stand large boards on which were painted equally large arrows to indicate the required direction. This, at any rate put an end to the exasperating questioning. But we digress. The appearance of the machine as it now stands can be gathered from one of our sketches. It may be seen that it has a triangular fuselage constructed entirely of steel tubing, acetylene welded. This, in fact, is a system on which the whole machine is constructed even to the wings. The balance of the machine laterally is to a certain extent effected naturally by the turned up wing tips, and by the flexible construction of the trailing edge, but so that lateral equilibrium may not altogether be out of the hands of the pilot, ailerons are fitted. The machine exhibited is in reality a three-seater and has been designed to fly with an 80-h.p. Gnome engine. At the Show it was temporarily fitted with a similar engine, but of only 50-h.p.
