The Goupy No.1, a.k.a. Goupy I bis was an experimental aircraft built in France during 1908, which on 5 September that year became the first French
triplane
A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard (aeronautics), canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are.
Design principles
The trip ...
to fly. It was designed by
Ambroise Goupy and built by
Aéroplanes Voisin
Aéroplanes Voisin was a French aircraft manufacturing company established in 1905 by Gabriel Voisin and his brother Charles Voisin, Charles, and was continued by Gabriel after Charles died in an automobile accident in 1912; the full official co ...
.
Unlike previous aircraft built by Voisin, which had been
pusher biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
s with a front elevator, the Goupy No.1 was a
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
triplane, with the ends of the wings connected by Voisin's characteristic "side curtains". The tailplane was a
Hargrave cell in line with contemporary Voisin practice, with the addition of a pair of small moving elevators mounted on the leading edge of the outer surfaces and a central rudder. The undercarriage consisted of a single wheel mounted below the wing and a tailwheel.
The Goupy Triplane
Flight magazine 30 January 1909] As originally constructed, the middle wing was mounted in a mid-wing position on the fuselage, with the top and bottom wings clear of the fuselage, and power was provided by an Antoinette (manufacturer), Antoinette engine. The design was later revised so that the bottom wing was mounted at the base of the fuselage, the middle wing to the top of the fuselage, and top wings clear of it. At the same time, the engine was changed to an Anzani of similar power and the wings extended outboard of the side curtains, and the single central mainwheel replaced by a pair of wheels.
Specifications
References
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{{Goupy aircraft
1900s French experimental aircraft
Triplanes
Goupy aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1908
Single-engined tractor aircraft