Журнал Flight
Flight, November 13, 1909
FLYER SILHOUETTES FROM THE PARIS SALON.
AVIA.
Small monoplane, peculiar for the arrangement of the pilot's seat on a kind of toboggan-like structure mounted under the wings. The system is sufficiently self-evident from our general view of the machine. The engine, it will be noticed, is mounted above the wings, but is supported on uprights direct by the chassis; and drives a two-bladed tractor screw.
An interesting mechanical detail introduced by the makers, and placed on the market by them as an accessory, is a combination steering and controlling mechanism, designed on the principle of concentric spherical cages, each of which is a universal joint. The construction is approximately represented by the accompanying sketch. The device enables the steering column to be rotated or tilted either separately or simultaneously, according as it is required to operate one member or two at the same time.
Attention should also be drawn in the Avia flyer to the construction of wheels and ski on the chassis. The system is illustrated by our photograph of the complete machine.
The supplementary surfaces on the machine include an elevator and a rudder, both situated at the rear. Provision is also made for warping the wings.
Показать полностью
L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
Avia
Charles Roux and Emil Bonnet-Labranche founded Avia in April 1909 at St Die, at the foot of the Vosges mountains in eastern France. The Dutheil et Chalmers motor company were share-holders; they expected to put together a capital of 1,000,000F, but never achieved this. At about the same time Roux, who had the reputation of an imaginative inventor with little sense of business, together with a M Kempf, founded the Aero Club des Vosges, to be based on future Avia designs - most of which never succeeded in flying.
Their first powered aeroplane, built in mid-1909, was the big Scott biplane of 12-meter span designed by Bueno and Demaurex and tested in Switzerland. In May 1909 appeared the first of the series of Avia gliders, this one towed behind a car on 23 May. Their catalogue lists 7 types of gliders, all built to resemble small Voisins: biplane wings and tail, and a front elevator; it is likely they were later known as Bonnet-Labranche gliders.
1. Uncambered wings covered on one side, no undercarriage. Probably a hang-type glider of 6-meter span.
2. Similar, but with cambered surfaces.
3. Similar, with surfaces covered on both sides.
4. Similar, with landing skids.
5. Similar, with 7-meter span.
6. The first monoplane, with 7-meter span.
4 types of big powered biplanes were also built. The various postcards showing them in flight are suspect: 3 were referred to, optimistically, as "vedettes aeriennes" (aerial scouts).
1. The first design was inspired by the Voisin, but looked rather like the smaller Henry Farman. At least 2 were built, one for Terentchenko, the other for Bonnet-Labranche, and sold for 9500F - very cheap. (Cf Bonnet-Labranche.)
2. The second was similar and larger, and featured small extra wing panels which extended outward from the center pair of wing struts; a nose wheel was fitted. One was sold to Bonnet-Labranche for 10,500F.
(Span: 8.5 m; 30 hp water-cooled engine)
3. The third was inspired by the Sommer biplane; it was a 2-seater designed for the military, and sold for 17,000F Probably it was built by Bonnet-Labranche as the ABL No 5; cf Bonnet-Labranche.
(Span: 10 m; 40 hp engine)
4. The fourth was single-seat tractor, built for the Morlat school at Pont Leroy. It resembled the first Goupy biplane, with a Bleriot rudder and biplane tail surfaces, and an uncovered fuselage similar to the Bleriot XI's. The undercarriage resembled that of the Avia monoplanes, but with small steel-plate skids. The Avia motto was painted on the rudder.
Avia designed and built at least 4 types of monoplanes as well.
1. The first was readied for the 1909 Exposition in September, but it never flew. It was a single-seater with an awkward 4-wheel undercarriage, a long fuselage and a small rectangular rudder mounted above the rear end.
(Span: 7 m; length: 7.75 m; 20 hp Dutheil et Chalmers)
Показать полностью
