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

Borel-Odier B.O.2

  The Eiffel Laboratories made a number of experiments using models ol floatplanes in 1915 and 1916. One result was a large twin-float aircraft intended for use as a torpedo carrier. The aircraft was designed by the Etablissements Borel and built by Antoine Odier; it incorporated much of the knowledge accumulated by the Eiffel studies.
  The Borel-Odier B.O.2 was intended to meet the naval requirement for a patrol plane and torpedo bomber. This called for a maximum speed of 140 km/h, which was slightly above the Borel-Odier's maximum. The Coutant flying boat, G.L.40 HB 2, Tellier T.4, and Donnet-Denhaut D.D.10 were also designed to meet this specification and all were selected for production.
  Borel's aircraft was a large three-bay biplane with the upper wing longer than the lower. The engines used on the production machines where 220-hp Hispano-Suiza 8Bs. The aircraft had a triple tail unit that may have been intended to make it easier to maneuver on the water. The torpedo was housed in a bay beneath the wing close to the wing/fuselage joint. Armament was two 7.7-mm Lewis machine guns on flexible mounts and one 650-kg torpedo.
  The aircraft was tested at St. Raphael but was destroyed during its first flight in August 1916. ft appears that it had two 160-hp Salmson engines but subsequent machines had the Hispano-Suizas mentioned above. Tests with another Borel-Odier torpedo plane subsequently showed that the aircraft could carry a useful load of more than 1,200 kg in rough sea conditions. It could take off after a run of about 18 meters and could fly for 114 minutes with one engine shut down.
  The performance was apparently enough to satisfy the navy and 90-92 aircraft were ordered. Deliveries did not begin until August 1917 and only a small number were in service at the time of the Armistice. Some B.O.2s were used at P.C. Nice for postal service between France and Corsica. Because of poor performance and numerous accidents few B.O.2s saw service. Postwar it was used to carry mail. A transport version designed to carry ten passengers was developed in 1919; it was destroyed during testing.


Borel-Odier B.O.2 Torpedo Floatplane with Two 220-hp Hispano-Suiza 8Ba Engines
   Span 20.0 m: length 11.23 m; height 3.93 m; wing area 80 sq. m
   Empty weight 1.200 kg, loaded weight 2,400 kg
   Maximum speed at sea level: 124 km/h; range 520 km
   Armament; two 7.7 mm Lewis guns on flexible mounts and one 650 kg torpedo.
   90-92 built





Borel Twin-Engine Floatplane

  In mid-1918 Borel had a twin-engine floatplane under construction. It was to have been powered by two 400-hp Liberty engines and to have carried a crew of three. It is not known if this was to have been an entirely new design, or if it was a development of the Borel-Odier floatplane. It is not known if construction was ever completed.


Borel Twin-Engine, Three-Seat Floatplane with Two 400-hp Liberty Engines (all data estimated)
   Wing area 140 sq. m
   Payload 2.000 kg
   Maximum speed: 150 km/h at 2.000 m



Borel High Seas Flying Boat

  The decision of the French navy in 1918 to issue a request for a large, multi-engine flying boat comparable to the British Felixstowe series resulted in an extraordinarily large number of submissions from the aviation industry. The specification called lor a flying boat equipped with a T.S.F. wireless, a 75-mm cannon with 35 rounds, and two machine guns.
  The Borel firm submitted a design for a biplane with twin floats, three engines, and a crew of three. The engines were to have been 400-hp Lorraines or Libertys. No other projected specifications are known: it seems likely that the aircraft remained an unbuilt project.