Melin

   Designed by Ernoult and Coanda and assembled by Berthaud in Lyon in 1912, the Melin monoplane resembled the early Nieuports. The rare photographs are slightly different from the builder's descriptions; it is not certain that the projected variants were all built. The frame was made up of pressed steel strips; the single wing spar was a steel tube, and the ribs were pressed by the Arbel company. The rectangular fuselage was covered in front with steel sheets, and 3-millimeter armor plates were options for military variants. The wings were fabric-covered, except at the roots, which had transparent panels let in. The airfoil was the Eiffel No 8 section.
   There were no bracing pylons, the landing and flying wires being attached directly to the upper and lower longerons to save weight and drag. The first descriptions did not include a vertical rudder, but only 2 shark-like fins, and ailerons which were hinged only to lift and act as spoilers for both glide and roll. Later descriptions mentioned "conjugated ailerons made with metal plates." Photographs show a more conventional tail; the ailerons do not show. The 2 wheels were set at the bottom of a single vertical leg which may have carried a shock-absorber.

   (Single-seater- span: 9 m; length: c 6 m; wing area: c 14 sqm; empty weight: 260 kg; gross weight: 420 kg; 50 or 80 hp Gnome)
   (2-seater, perhaps not built - span: 11m; length: 7 m; wing area: 18 sqm; empty weight: 320 kg; 80 or 100 hp Gnome)

   A photograph shows what is perhaps a later version of the first design, a handsome 50 or 80 hp Gnome monoplane with an all-covered fuselage, a long-chord stabilizer and the 2 shark-teeth fin and rudder. There was a single pylon, the wings warped, and the undercarriage resembled that of the Antoinette.