The R.E.P. 'Parasol' Type L was a military

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

aircraft designed and produced in France by

Robert Esnault-Pelterie Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian K ...

(hence R.E.P.) in 1914.Taylor 1989, p.758

Design and development

It was a wire-braced, parasol-wing monoplane with a fixed, tailskid undercarriage.Davilla & Soltan 2002, p.430 In France it was usually described as "Monoplan R.E.P. à ailes surélevées" (literally monoplane R.E.P. with elevated wings), and also as the "R.E.P. Vision Totale" (R.E.P. Total Vision). The fuselage was constructed of steel tube and was of triangular cross-section, with the apex on the ventral side. The pilot and observer sat in tandem, open cockpits. Lateral control was by

wing warping Wing warping was an early system for lateral (roll) control of a fixed-wing aircraft or kite. The technique, used and patented by the Wright brothers, consisted of a system of pulleys and cables to twist the trailing edges of the wings in opposit ...

, using a complex fan of cables above and below the wings. The upper cables were carried over a pylon of tandem struts, strut braced across the top.Marsden, 1994, p.43 Two versions were produced: a single-seater with a 45-kW (60-hp)

le Rhône Le Rhône was the name given to a series of Rotary engine, rotary aircraft engines built between 1910 and 1920. Le Rhône series engines were originally sold by the Gnome et Rhône#Le Rhône, Société des Moteurs Le Rhône and, following a 1914 ...

engine, and a two-seater with a 60-kW (80-hp)

Gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

engine. It was armed with one machine-gun.

Operational history

While France's ''

Aéronautique Militaire The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

'' did not purchase the design, and continued to use the Type N,Davilla & Soltan 2002, p.431 Britain's

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

purchased twelve examples. (serial no's 8454–8465). The first of these were delivered in August 1915 and were used during the early stages of the First World War. The RNAS operated from

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

and its main task was the bombing of German airfields to prevent attacks by aircraft on the British fleet. On, October 3, 1915, one of these aircraft, serial 8460 and flown by Flight Lieutenant Erroll Boyd from No.1 Wing, was on a bombing mission along the coast of Belgium, when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire. It made a forced landing in the Netherlands in and was interned there.Smyth, 1997, pp.27–28 The aircraft was subsequently purchased from the United Kingdom, repaired and entered Dutch military service on November 3, 1915 as LA23 (in 1918 this aircraft was reregistered as REP-3). It was later used for taxiing training.Jonker

Operators

; *

** No.1 Wing ** No.4 Wing ; * Luchtvaartafdeeling

Specifications (R.E.P. Parasol two seater)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Esnault-Pelterie aircraft 1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft REP aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1914 Rotary-engined aircraft