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

Etablissements D'aviation Robert Esnault-Pelterie (R.E.P.)

  Robert Esnault-Pelterie built his first powered plane in 1907. Designated the R.E.P.1, it had a 25-hp R.E.P. engine. It was followed by the similar R.E.P.2 and R.E.P.2bis with a 30-hp R.E.P. engine. In 1908 the Association des Industriels de la Locomotion Aerienne was founded. Subsequent designs included the R.E.P. Type D (60-hp R.E.P ); R.E.P. Type K (80-hp Gnome); and a two-seat floatplane. R.E.P.'s patent rights were purchased by Vickers in 1911.

L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)

Журнал Flight

Flight, January 9, 1909

THE FIRST PARIS AERONAUTICAL SALON.

"R.E.P. (No. 2)."

   Monoplane constructed throughout at the R.E.P. works (Billancourt, Seine). The wings extend laterally from the forward end of a longitudinal steel girder of semicircular section, and are so made and mounted that they can be warped for the purposes of steering. The girder has fixed keels above and below; the latter terminates in a rudder, and behind the rudder is the elevator. In front is the engine, driving a 4-bladed tractor screw.
   A feature of the construction is the covering of the entire machine with fabric, so as to present an unbroken surface. Also the top and bottom keels give an unusually large vertical area. Under ordinary conditions, the machine is controlled by a single pivoted lever, which operates the elevator and warps the wings. The rudder is operated by a separate lever working in a notched quadrant, and a third lever is used for setting the elevator at different normal angles.


Flight, February 20, 1909

M. Guffroy Flies on R.E.P. Machine.

ON Tuesday, after going through a couple of days' training at M. R. Esnault Pelterie's aerodrome at Buc, M. Maurice Guffroy, despite the mist, succeeded in making several short flights on the R.E.P. 2-bis monoplane, which he has entered for the Gordon-Bennet Cup. The longest flight measured nearly 70 metres. On Wednesday he was continuing his experiments, and succeeded in making a flight of 800 metres, which was brought prematurely to an end through an extraordinary accident. He failed when turning to quite clear a bank about 12 ft. high, and as a result of the collision the machine completely turned turtle. Marvellous to relate, as the monoplane was travelling at a speed of 80 kiloms. an hour, M. Guffroy escaped unhurt, and the only damage to the machine was a broken propeller.


Flight, March 27, 1909

FLYERS AT OLYMPIA.

Rep (BESSLER-WAECHTER).

   The Rep monoplane exhibited by Messrs. Bessler-Waechter, who are the British manufacturers for M. Esnault-Pelterie, is in the main a copy of that No. 2 bis, which was exhibited at Paris and with which M. Pelterie has himself made his most successful experiments. Except in slight details which would pass unnoticed by those not closely acquainted with the precise lines of the earlier model, the flyer on view at Olympia is quite unaltered, but close inspection shows that the tail end of the body of the machine has been slightly modified in its lines and now is more rounded in its section than formerly. The rudder, too, is a little smaller, but the system of control remains unchanged. Ascending and descending is accomplished mainly by the use of the stern elevator, steering is managed by means of the rear rudder, and lateral stability is obtained by warping the main wings. These operations are performed by levers, one of which besides warping the wings also flexes the elevator within certain limits; this particular lever is universally jointed to move either sideways or to and fro. There are two other levers which can be used to set the rudder and to set the elevator in any given position. When ascending it is the rear edge of the stern elevator which is tilted; in biplanes which have an elevator in front of the machine it is of course the front edge which is tilted for this purpose. When proceeding at any given speed, an increase of speed of the engine also causes ascent with any given setting of the elevator.
   A feature of the general scheme of the R.E.P. flyer is the mounting of the machine on two wheels, with guide wheels on the tips of the main wings, so that the pilot can learn to partially control his machine without leaving the ground. Why M. Esnault-Pelterie adopted the monoplane principle he explained in a lecture before the members of the Aero Club some weeks ago. It was, as our readers will remember, mainly because he found that the wires necessary in the construction of a biplane offered tremendous resistance, far greater in fact than would be imagined from their small diameter.