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Страна: Франция

Год: 1917

J.Davilla, A.Soltan French Aircraft of the First World War (Flying Machines)

Liore et Olivier 3

  During the war LeO built Morane Saulnier aircraft and Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters under license. Its first original wartime design was the LeO 3, a single-engine aircraft intended for use as a fighter. It was built in 1917 but never flew and further development was abandoned.


Liore et Olivier 4 and 4/1

  The firm of Liore and Olivier was manufacturing Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters under license in 1916-17. LeO engineer Leflot designed and constructed an aircraft intended to replace the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter in 1917. It was built for the A2 classification, which called for a two-seat observation aircraft capable of carrying a payload of 450 kg at 200 km/h. The service ceiling was to be 3,000 m. Other aircraft designed to this specification included the Breguet 14 with a 300-hp Renault engine and Rateau turbo-compressor and the Carroll A2.
  Liore and Olivier's aircraft resembled the Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter. It was a two-seat tractor biplane with positively staggered wings of equal length and with two bays of struts, designated the LeO 4.
  The most unusual feature of the design was the "umbrella" shape of the upper wing, featuring curved tips and wavy trailing edges. The bottom wing was of conventional design without curved lips and with straight trailing edges. The tail featured an elliptical fin and rudder assembly. Armament consisted of a machine gun synchronized to fire through the propeller arc; the gunner had a separate cockpit fitted with a swivel mount for two machine guns. The engine was a 200-hp Clerget 11E 11-cylinder rotary.
  A second version was designated the LeO 4/1. It was broadly similar to the LeO 4 (and may very well have used the fuselage and tail of the LeO 4) but had a more conventional wing shape with four ailerons. A triangular fin and rudder were fitted. It retained the 200-hp Clerget 11E rotary. The plane was built and flown but was considered to be too heavy, demonstrated by the fact that it took 50 minutes to climb to 5,000 m (the Breguet 14 A2, on the other hand, could climb to the same altitude in only 35 minutes). The aircraft was judged to be inadequate by the STAe and the Breguet 14 was selected for production. The sole LeO 4/1 was later used as a civil aircraft (serial F-ABFR) and subsequently as an engine testbed for the company.

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  • J.Davilla, A.Soltan French Aircraft of the First World War (Flying Machines)