L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
Letord and Niepce
Letord was first associated with Niepce, and the firm did wooden models, some of which were built for Chalais Meudon; by 1905, civilians interested in having their flying machines built were being referred to Letord and Niepce; probably Letord himself never designed an aeroplane. In 1909 the firm built a monoplane for Lunel, sometimes referred to as the Lunel machine. It was based on the successful Bleriot XI, and first flew at Issy on 9 November 1909. The rudder was a small rectangle mounted aft of the rear end of the fuselage, and the triangular tailplane carried small elevators. The Bleriot-style undercarriage carried 2 long horned skids out in front.
(Span: 9.6 m; length: 8.5 m; gross weight: 350 kg; 3-cylinder Anzani)
In 1910 their pusher biplane appeared at Issy, with a big biplane tail cell set on outriggers, and a third tailplane surface set on top of the outriggers ahead of the cell. The machine rested on a pair of castering wheels forward and a tailwheel aft; oval skids protected the rounded wingtips. It was seen with and without side-curtains between the outermost interplane struts; once it carried the name L Barnavon on the panels.
Letord remained a subcontractor for other firms after the start of the War, and the aircraft carrying the Letord name were designed by Jean Dorand after 1913.