W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters
DE BRUYERE C1
One of the most unorthodox single-seat fighters built and flown during World War I was an extraordinary pusher biplane fighter of canard configuration and attributed to a French engineer named de Bruyere. A single-bay biplane with inverted N-type interplane struts, rotary-tip ailerons on the upper wings, a fixed canard surface, and dorsal and ventral vertical surfaces at the rear, the de Bruyere C1 was apparently powered by a 150 hp Hispano-Suiza 8Aa water-cooled engine. This was installed in the centre fuselage, immediately aft of the wings, driving a stern-mounted propeller via a long extension shaft in a fashion reminiscent of that of the Tatin-Paulhan Torpille of 1911. The fuselage was a light metal shell and a nosewheel undercarriage was used. No record has survived to indicate the reason for the highly unusual arrangement adopted by de Bruyere for his fighter, but it could have been dictated by the desire to carry a 37-mm shell-firing Hotchkiss gun. The first flight test was attempted at Etampes in April 1917, the aircraft becoming airborne, but rolling over and crashing on its back. It is not believed that any attempt was made to repair it and continue the flight test programme, and no further details have been found.