Couzinet 22
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The Couzinet 20 was a low power, three-engined aircraft designed in France in 1929 for postal duties, though it could have been configured to carry three passengers or as a medical transport. Variants flew with three different engines but only two airframes were completed.


Design

The Couzinet 20 strongly resembled the earlier Couzinet 10 ''Arc-en-Ciel'' but was markedly smaller, with a span reduced by about 40%. The smaller dimensions meant there was no longer access to the outboard engines in flight (both types were tri-motors) but the Type 20 was more advanced in having a retractable
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 ...
. Both had Couzinet's characteristic
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 from the body rather than joined to it. It was a
low wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...
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 ...
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
. Its wing was entirely wooden, built around two
box spars A box (plural: boxes) is a container with rigid sides used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides (typically rectangular prisms). Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very ...
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 ...
covered, with a thick section which thinned continuously from root to tip. In plan each wing was
trapezoidal In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...
, though long tips produced an approximately elliptical form. Long narrow- chord
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 ...
, each divided into two, were placed at the outer ends of the trapezoidal part. The Type 20's two outer nine-cylinder,
radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance (geometry), a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A ...
Salmson 9AD engines were mounted just ahead of the wing
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 ...
with their cylinders exposed for cooling; the third was in the nose. Each had a pointed
spinner Spinner may refer to: Technology * Spinner (aeronautics), the aerodynamic cone at the hub of an aircraft propeller * Spinner (cell culture), laboratory equipment for cultivating plant or mammalian cells * Spinner (computing), a graphical widget in ...
and fairings behind the engine. The later Types 21 and 22 had more powerful radials, the five-cylinder, Walter Vega I and the seven-cylinder, Salmson 7Ac respectively. 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 ...
was a ply-skinned
semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among o ...
structure with close-spaced frames and
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. It narrowed aft and the upper part rose upward to form a narrow vertical edge which formed the very broad fin; the fuselage underside curved upwards in parallel. A cantilever
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 full-span
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 and a rather pointed
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 ...
ran down to the keel via a gap between them. The crew's enclosed cabin, placed on the wing leading edge, seated two side-by-side. The cabin and the rest of the interior were accessed through a righthand side door over the wing. Behind the cabin there was a small baggage space and behind that a compartment with four windows a side. This could accommodate three passengers or two stretcher cases with a doctor. Unfurnished it could carry of mail. The Type 20 had retractable
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...
. Each mainwheel was on a vertical
oleo strut An oleo strut is a pneumatic air–oil hydraulic shock absorber used on the landing gear of most large aircraft and many smaller ones. This design cushions the impacts of landing and damps out vertical oscillations. It is undesirable for an air ...
under the engine and hinged on a bent axle and a drag strut, both tubular. They were retracted by lever-operated cables into the engine cowlings, with the axle and drag strut lying on the wing underside. In the cockpit there were pointers indicating the undercarriage position and a quick release to lower it. The mainwheels had brakes and the tailwheel castered.


Development

Construction of the Couzinet 20 began in May 1929 and it was almost ready for flight in January 1930 but was destroyed along with the ''Arc-en-Ciel 2'' in a
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
fire at the workshops of the '' Société d'Aviation Letord'' at
Meudon Meudon () is a French Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, on the left bank of the Seine. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of P ...
, France, on 17 February. A second example was built and flew for the first time in the first week of November 1930. It was on display soon after at the 12th Paris Salon and on 31 May in demonstrations of touring aircraft organised by the French Aero Club Association. It visited Bourget in September to meet the ''Arc-en-ciel'' at the end of its six-hour flight from
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
. Meanwhile, the Type 21 with Walter engines first flew in February 1931. These engines were later replaced with 95 hp Salmsons to become the Type 22, which was flown for the first time in December 1932. General Louis Couhé proposed to fly it to
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
in January 1933. but there is no record of this flight. In November the Type 22, still owned by Couhé and described as having 40 hp Salmsons, had its engine mountings lengthened to adjust the
centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For a ...
and improve handling.


Variants

;Type 20: 3 × Salmson 9AD ;Type 21: 3 × Walter Vega I ;Type 22: Type 21 converted to 3 × Salmson 7Ac


Specifications (Type 20)


References

{{Couzinet aircraft 1930s French civil utility aircraft 20 Low-wing aircraft Trimotors Aircraft first flown in 1930