L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
D'Artois (Chantiers de l'Artois)
By mid-1912 Louis Schreck was forced to abandon the Anciens Chantiers Tellier he had created at St Omer after he had purchased Alphonse Tellier's monoplane patents. He then formed the Chantiers de l'Artois (workshops of Artois), generally referred to as d'Artois, after the name of the region in northwestern France in which it was located. This short-lived firm produced 3 types of biplanes designed by Louis Gaudard, famous in French aviation since 1909. The first 2 machines were shown at the 1912 Paris Exposition, one a landplane, the other a flyingboat. To save drag, each aeroplane had a 50 hp Gnome mounted inside the plywood-covered fuselage; each was painted white.
Aerotorpille: This was the landplane. The Gnome drove a pusher propeller behind the tail, and the rectangular-section fuselage was left uncovered around the engine. The upper wings were of longer span than the lower; both sets pivoted around a single spar, similar to the Breguet design, with a single interplane strut on each side. A simple 2-wheel undercarriage was fitted under the engine, and a long skid kept the propeller off the ground. It was exhibited at the 1912 Paris Salon and probably flew in 1913.
(Span: 10 m, 6 m; length: 7 m wing area: 26 sqm; top speed estimated: 135 kmh; empty weight: 250 kg; 50 hp Gnome, or a 50/75 hp Chenu)
Jane's All The World Aircraft 1913
D'ARTOIS. Soc. Anonyme des Anciens Chantiers Tellier, Longuenesse, pres St. Omer. Re-established 1912. Capacity: small.
1913 model. 1913
Model and date. "Aero torpille" "Aero torpille "
hydro-biplane. biplane.
Length...........feet(m.) 23 (7) 24-3/4 (7.50)
Span, upper......feet(m.) 36 (11) 36 (11)
lower......feet(m.) 20 (6) 20 (6)
Area........sq. feet(m?.) 280 (26) 280 (26)
Weight, empty, lbs.(kgs.) 772 (350) 551 (250)
Motor................h.p. 50 Gnome 50 Gnome
Speed........m.p.h. (km.) 56 (90) 84 (135)
Endurance............hrs. ... ...
Number built during 1912 ... ...
Notes.--Single long boat body, canoe-shape.
Журнал Flight
Flight, November 9, 1912.
THE PARIS AERO SALON.
d'Artois.
THE name is a new one, and so are the machines, but the firm that is producing them was one of the earliest to enter the arena of aeroplane construction in France - the Tellier firm to wit. During 1910 the Tellier monoplane came into considerable prominence in the hands of Emile Dubonnet, but since he discontinued flying the firm seems to have altogether dropped constructing, until now that they are re-opening operations with the assistance of MM. Louis Gaudartland Schreck. They are showing two machines, one a rather novel biplane and the other a hydro-biplane, which follows to a certain extent the lines of the Donnet-Leveque. The first of these machines is of the "torpille" type, that is, it is driven by a propeller arranged at the tail end of the machine. M. Louis Gaudart is responsible for its design, and he will be remembered as the pilot that carried out the initial tests of the Paulhan-Tatin aero-torpille, one of the most notable exhibits at last year's show. Differing from this machine, the d'Artois torpille biplane has a simple fuselage of rectangular section constructed for the best part of wood. Only in the neighbourhood of the engine, a 50-h.p. rotary Gnome, is steel used. Excepting in that part, too, the body is covered in with fabric. The landing gear is an extremely simple construction of steel tubing and is of a type that seems to be finding many adherents among French constructors. The main planes are built about a single tubular spar arranged at the approximate centre of pressure. They are united to the fuselage in so simple a manner that it needs but the removal of a bolt or two to dismantle them. Apart from the presence of the propeller, which is driven by a hollow steel shaft of 40 mm. external and 34 mm. internal diameter, the tail is of purely conventional design, consisting of a flat stabilising surface with elevators hinged to its rear edge. As in the Tatin torpille, whipping of the shaft is prevented by a number of ball bearings arranged at equal distances between the motor and the propeller.
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