Lanzi et Billard

   The dart-shaped La Fleche (arrow) was built by Espinosa at his Avionnerie (SAC A A). It was tested unsuccessfully in the summer of 1910, and was known only as one of many oddities of the period. It is likely, however, that the machine was built earlier in 1910 or even in 1909, and modified at Espinosa's. It resembled exactly a folded paper dart mounted on a 4-wheeled undercarriage; 2 small surfaces were set behind the tractor propeller. Semicircular ailerons were fitted on the trailing edges of the wings, a trapezoidal tailplane set on the extended upper fuselage longerons, with small elevators at the end.
   It appeared later with a motor in a covered box-mounting in the nose, with a small streamlined tank above it. The front undercarriage legs are heavier and braced to the nose; the rear ones sport spring shock-absorbers. In the photo taken at Espinosa's and described in the 1910 Jane's as "completed in August 1910," no engine is visible, no tank appears, the front and rear undercarriage legs are connected, and the shock absorbers are in front.

   (Span: 6 m; length: 8 m; empty weight: 290 kg)