The Bernard SIMB AB 10 was a French single-engine, single-seat, highly streamlined,

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

, all-metal

low-wing monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplane (aeronautics), multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowes ...

of advanced design. It first flew in 1924 but was not ordered into production.

Design and development

The Bernard SIMB AB 10 or Bernard SIMB AB 10 C 1 single-seat fighter, which first flew in the summer of 1924, first appeared in public as the SIMB AB-C 1 at the Paris Aero Show of 1922. The AB in this name stood for Adolphe Bernard and C for ''chasseur'' () with 1 indicating single-seat. Advanced for its time, it was a streamlined cantilever low-wing monoplane with a closely cowled, liquid-cooled engine. The AB-C.1 was an all-metal aircraft with straight-edged, slightly tapered wings which had straight

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

s tips rounded at the

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

Ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

extended to the tips. The tail surfaces had straight swept leading edges but had rounded trailing edges on the control surfaces. The

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

was mounted on top of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

and the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

extended to the bottom of the fuselage, moving between separate

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

. Its fuselage, rounded in cross-section, tapered to the rear and curved down forwards over the engine to the low-mounted two-blade

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. The open cockpit, with a brief, faired headrest, was placed over the middle of the wing. It had a

conventional undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Ter ...

with a pair of single mainwheels and a tailskid, but the mainwheel mounting was unusual, a wide-chord faired inverted T-shaped pylon. The engine was a Hispano-Suiza V-8, cooled by a pair of Lamblin radiators placed horizontally side by side below the fuselage. It was at this stage of its development that the AB-C.1 was displayed at the Paris Aero Show in December 1922, though without its rather ugly radiators. Over twenty months passed before the first flight of what became the SIMB AB 10. In this period the wing structure was revised and the span extended by with more squared-off tips. The

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

area was increased with a curved leading edge and the elevator trailing edge straightened. The SIMB AB 10 had its radiators close to each other, vertical and side by side, just ahead of the central undercarriage member. A late alteration braced the faired axle with vertical V-form struts on each side. It finally flew in August 1924, piloted by Florentin Bonnet. In a biplane age it was judged too radical and expensive, so no production order was awarded.

Specifications (AB 10)

References

Bibliography

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External links

Bernard 1 (sic)
{{bernard aircraft 1920s French fighter aircraft AB010 Low-wing aircraft Single-engined piston aircraft