Bessard-Millevoye Moineau (Sparrow) was a single seat, low-powered French biplane intended to increase participation in popular aviation. Only one was built.

Design

The single seat Moineau was designed to lower the costs of flying. It was low-powered, making it relatively cheap to build and run, and folding wings made it compact to store. It was capable of being flown by part-time pilots but also able, in more experienced hands, to perform

aerobatics Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...

. The Moineau was an equal span single bay biplane with bays defined by N-form

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...

s and wings with only slight stagger. The wings were built around two

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

tubes and had trellissed

ribs The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

and

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

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 ...

s. The lower wing was in two parts and attached to the lower

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 ...

; the three part upper wing had a short span, reduced chord centre section which was supported over the central fuselage on a tube steel cabane assisted by outward leaning N-form struts from mid-fuselage to the wing and slender forward interplane struts close to the fuselage. Both wings were strongly swept at 20° but only the upper wing had slight (about 1°) dihedral. Apart from the upper centre section the wings had constant and equal chord out to rounded tips. Only the lower wing carried

aileron 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 aroun ...

s. The fuselage was built around four steel tube

longeron In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural fram ...

s with frames and diagonals. Spruce

stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...

s and a canvas covering gave the outer fuselage ten faces forming only slightly curved sides and underside but a more rounded upper surface; the fuselage narrowed to the tail. The details of the nose would have depended on the choice of engine fitted: options were the two cylinder Centaure, three cylinder Poinsard or four cylinder, inverted in-line Train 4T, though it is not known if the Moineau flew with any of these. The prototype was fitted with a Mengin B

flat twin A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...

, which resulted in a rather blunt nose with engine cylinders exposed for cooling. Its single seat, open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...

was under the upper wing cut-out, immediately aft of the engine

firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spre ...

and over the fuel tank; just behind it the upper fuselage was metal covered, part of it easily removable for access and also forming a streamlined headrest. At the rear a triangular

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 ...

carried unbalanced

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

s with a cut-out for the movement of a large

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevator (air ...

which together with a small

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 ...

formed a blunted quadrant. The Moineau had a fixed, wide track, tailskid

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

, with large, low pressure balloon tyres on half-axles formed on each side by three struts, a forward pair from the lower and mid-fuselage and a drag strut to the lower fuselage further aft.

Development

The Bessard-Millevoye Moineau first flew in late May or early June 1935 at Toussus-Paris, piloted by

Henri Déricourt Henri Déricourt (2 September 1909 − 21 November 1962), code named Gilbert and Claude, was a French agent in 1943 and 1944 for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive organization during World War II. The purpose of SOE wa ...

, chief test pilot of the Paris Aero Club. By mid-July he had demonstrated its aerobatic capabilities. The French aviation journals contain no further references to the Moineau.

Specifications (Train 4T)

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite journal , date=13 June 1935, title=Picture caption, journal=Les Ailes , issue=730, pages=18, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553885k/f18 {{cite journal , date=15 August 1935, title=L'avion d'entrainment et de sport "Moineau", journal=Les Ailes , issue=739, pages=3, url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553894j/f3 1930s French sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1935