Fabre Hydravion
| Fabre Hydravion | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Canard during tests in 1911. | |
| Other name(s) | Canard |
| Type | Experimental floatplane |
| Manufacturer | Henri Fabre |
| First flight | 1910 |
| Owners and operators | Henri Fabre |
| Fate | Crashed on 12 April 1911 |
The Fabre Hydravion was a French experimental floatplane designed by Henri Fabre, notable as the first seaplane in history to take off from water under its own power. Although called Canard (French: "duck"),[1] this monoplane was not the origin of the term "canard configuration".
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[edit] Development
Henri Fabre was from a ship-owning family and he was interested in engineering and hydrodynamics. With a public interest in aviation in France, Fabre decided to build a seaplane. The Hydravion had a fuselage structure of two beams that carried unequal span biplane surfaces with an elevator at the forward end and a monoplane wing at the rear. The engine was a Gnome rotary, mounted at the rear of the upper fuselage beam, driving a pusher propeller.
Hydravion was developed over a period of four years by the French engineer Henri Fabre, a mechanic named Marius Burdin, (a former mechanic of Captain Ferdinand Ferber) and Léon Sebille, a naval architect from Marseilles. It was an aircraft equipped with three floats which were developed by engineer Bonnemaison, and were patented by Fabre.[citation needed]
It successfully took off and flew for a distance of 457 m (1500 ft) on 28 March 1910 at Martigues, France.[2] Apart from the achievement of being the first seaplane in history,[2] Fabre had no flying experience before that day. He flew the Hydroplane successfully three more times that day and within a week he had flown a distance of 3.5 mi (5.6 km).[2] Then the aircraft had became badly damaged in an accident.
These experiments were closely followed by aviation pioneers Gabriel and Charles Voisin. Eager to try flying a seaplane as well, Voisin purchased several of the Fabre floats and fitted them to their Canard Voisin airplane.
It was flown by Jean Bécue[3] at the prestigious event Concours de Canots Automobiles de Monaco, and crashed there on 12 April 1911, being damaged beyond repair.[1][4] No more Hydravions have been built.
Following this experience, Henri Fabre built floats for other aviation pioneers.
[edit] Surviving examples
The crashed Hydravion was collected and later restored and displayed by the French Air and Space Museum.[5] Another Canard is in Marignane airport (Bouches du Rhône).[citation needed]
[edit] Specifications (October 1910)
Data from Flying boats and Seaplanes[5]
General characteristics
- Crew: One
- Length: 8.5 m (27 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 14 m (45 ft 11 in)
- Height: 3.70 (approx) m (12 ft 2 in)
- Wing area: 17 m2 (183 ft2)
- Empty weight: 380[citation needed] kg ( lb)
- Gross weight: 475 kg (1047 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Omega rotary 7-cylinder piston engine, 37 kW (50 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 89 km/h (55 mph)
[edit] See also
- Blériot V, an earlier canard configurarin aircraft.
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
[edit] References
- ^ a b Flying Magazine. 1962-06. pp. 35, 72. http://books.google.com/books?id=0Korb5DuDEEC&lpg=PA72&pg=PA35.
- ^ a b c Thurston, David B (2000-08). The world's most significant and magnificent aircraft: Evolution of the modern airplane. pp. 66–67. ISBN 9780768005370. http://books.google.com/books?id=7HTPRym0iYIC&lpg=PA67.
- ^ http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/fabre.html
- ^ http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1911/1911%20-%200354.html?search=Fabre
- ^ a b Flying boats and Seaplanes Since 1910. pp. 17, 97–98. ISBN 071370537X.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Henri Fabre Le Canard |
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