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The Gastambide-Mengin monoplane (later Gastambide-Mengin I, Gastambide-Mengin II and Antoinette II) was an early
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
experimental aircraft
An experimental aircraft is an aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts.
The term ''research aircraft'' or '' testbed aircraft'', by contrast, generally denotes aircraft modified to perform scientific studies, ...
designed by
Léon Levavasseur
Léon Levavasseur (8 January 1863 – 26 February 1922) was a French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor. His innovations included the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and liquid engine cooling. Primarily associated wit ...
, and was the first aircraft built by the
Antoinette
Antoinette is a given name, that is a diminutive feminine form of Antoine and Antonia (from Latin ''Antonius'').
People with the name include:
Nobles
* Antoinette de Maignelais, Baroness of Villequier by marriage (1434–1474), mistress of ...
company.
The name came from
Jules Gastambide, who financed the company, and
Gabriel Mengin, the aircraft engineer.
Design and development
The monoplane (later known as the Gastambide-Mengin I) was powered by a
Antoinette
Antoinette is a given name, that is a diminutive feminine form of Antoine and Antonia (from Latin ''Antonius'').
People with the name include:
Nobles
* Antoinette de Maignelais, Baroness of Villequier by marriage (1434–1474), mistress of ...
piston engine driving a tractor propeller.
It was noted for having a complex quadricycle landing gear.
The monoplane made four flights between 8 and 14 February 1908 flown by a mechanic named Boyer, the furthest being a flight of .
After these flights, the aircraft was rebuilt between February and August 1908 as the Gastambide-Mengin II (later named the Antoinette II), the modifications including revised,
trailing edge
The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
-hinged triangular ailerons.
The modified aircraft made three short flights in August 1908, one of these on 21 August 1908 being the first circle flown by a monoplane, and on a flight the previous day (20 August 1908) Robert Gastambide became the first passenger flown in a monoplane.
With lessons learnt from the design, Levavasseur went on to design a family of monoplanes named after Antoinette Gastambide, the daughter of Jules Gastambide.
Specifications
See also
*
Antoinette III
*
Antoinette IV
The Antoinette IV was an early French monoplane.
Design and development
The Antoinette IV was a high-wing aircraft with a fuselage of extremely narrow triangular cross-section and a cruciform tail. Power was provided by a V8 engine of Léon L ...
*
Antoinette V
*
Antoinette VI
*
Antoinette VII
The Antoinette VII was an early French aircraft, flown in 1909.
History
The VII was a further development of the Antoinette IV, with increased engine power and using a wing warping system implemented by Levavasseur for the Antoinette V in pl ...
*
Antoinette military monoplane
The Antoinette military monoplane, also known as the Antoinette Monobloc or the Antoinette-Latham was an early 3-seat monoplane built in France in 1911 by the Antoinette (manufacturer), Antoinette company in the hope of attracting orders from th ...
*
Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin
Fedor Ivanovich Bylinkin was an aircraft designer and builder in Russia before World War I. He designed and built a monoplane in 1910 similar to the Antoinette VI which succeeded in reaching 200 m of flight. A later biplane design proved a fail ...
, designer of a similar aircraft, 1910
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
www.aviafrance.com
{{Antoinette aircraft and aero engines
1900s French experimental aircraft
Antoinette aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Shoulder-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1908