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

Tellier T.7

  In 1917 the French navy issued a requirement for what it termed a "high seas" flying boat. It was intended that this aircraft would be the French equivalent of the British Felixstowe flying boats which had proved so successful. The specification called for a four-seat flying boat with a wireless radio, a 75-mm cannon with 35 rounds, and two machine guns. Aircraft were submitted to meet this requirement by the Donnet-Denhaut, Farman, Levy, and Tellier firms.
  The Tellier T.7 was much larger than any of the firm's other aircraft. The basic shape of the T.3 was retained, including the biplane wings of unequal span, the lower wing with the marked dihedral, the complex arrangement of struts connecting the upper wing/tail/hull, and the pair of smaller floats under the bottom wing. There were three 250-hp Hispano-Suiza engines which were mounted side by side and suspended between the upper and lower wings. The central engine was mounted as a tractor, while the two lateral engines were pushers. It had been intended to equip the T.7 with 350-hp Lorraine-Dietrich 12D engines but these were unavailable at the time the prototype was completed. Armament consisted of the 75-mm cannon as specified.
  Construction began in April or May 1918, and the aircraft was completed before the Armistice. The first flight took place from the Seine in December 1918. The pilot on the initial flight was Corpet and the aircraft was flown, without armament, to an altitude of 500 meters. Military testing was hampered by the low-powered engines fitted to the prototype. Furthermore, probably in late January, the aircraft was damaged while being towed and sunk; it was several days before it could be raised. The aircraft was repaired but when flight testing resumed at Saint-Raphael the aircraft would not take off because of the excessive weight of water which had been absorbed by airframe; as well as the weight of structural reinforcements added while the aircraft was undergoing repair. The aircraft was allowed to dry out and when the Lorraine 12D engines arrived in November 1919 they replaced the less powerful Hispano-Suiza 8Bs.


Tellier T.7 "High Seas" Flying Boat with Three 250-hp Hispano-Suiza 8B Engines
   Span 30 m; length 21.35 m; height 5.89 m; wing area 156 sq. m
   Empty weight 4,650 kg; loaded weight 7,150 kg
   Maximum speed: 130 km/h
   One built



Tellier T.8

  The Tellier T.8 was intended to meet the same requirement for a "high seas" flying boat as the T.7. When the 350-hp Lorraine D12 engines finally arrived in November 1919, they replaced the 250-hp Hispano-Suiza 8Bs used on the T.7 airframe. The T.8, as the re-engined T.7 may have been designated, was able to complete its military trials in December - a year after flight testing with the T.7 had begun. The aircraft appears to have met the requirements of the "high seas" category of flying boat, and the only change requested to the design was reducing the size of the rudder. In early 1920 the 75-mm cannon was at last fitted and fired in flight. However, the end of the war eliminated the need for such an aircraft and the T.7 did not enter service.
  The airplane was subsequently flown by Commandant de Lahore, who flew the T.7, armed with its cannon and equipped with bombs, at the Monaco air race in April 1920. The airplane remained in service as a testbed for the 75-mm cannon until retired in 1922.
  By the end of the war the Tellier firm had been completely absorbed by the Nieuport-Astra firm and, at least in part due to Tellier's poor health, the firm ceased further development of the T.7 and T.8 flying boats.


Tellier T.8 "High Seas" Flying Boat with Three 350-hp Lorraine 12D engines
   Span 30 m; length 21.35 m, height 5.89 m; wing area 156 sq. m
   Empty weight 4,250 kg; loaded 6,835 kg
   Maximum speed 125-130 km/h; endurance six hours
   One built (re-engined T.7)



Nieuport-Tellier Designs

  The Nieuport firm acquired a controlling interest in the Tellier firm in late 1918. Tellier's designs were redesignated as follows:
   Tellier T.8 - Nieuport TM (Tri-moteur).