Tag Archives: Appareils d’Aviation Les Frères Voisin

14 March 1908

A Voisin-Farman I bis at Le musée de l’Air et de l’Espace. (Wikipedia)
A Voisin-Farman I bis at Le musée de l’Air et de l’Espace. (Wikipedia)

14 March 1908: Henry Farman makes the the first flight in his modified Voisin-Farman I bis, an airplane built by the Appareils d’Aviation Les Frères Voisin, founded by brothers Gabriel and Charles Voisin at Billancourt, a suburb of Paris, France.

The Voisin-Farman I was a single-place, single-engine, two-bay biplane with the elevator forward and a “box kite” tail. It was 10.500 meters (34 feet 5.4 inches) long, with a wingspan of 10.000 meters (32 feet, 9.7 inches). The chord of each wing was 2.000 meters (6 feet, 6.7 inches), and vertical gap between the upper and lower wings was 1.500 meters (4 feet, 11.0 inches). There was no sweep or dihedral.

The complete airplane weighed 530 kilograms (1,169 pounds).

The Voisin-Farman I was modified. The wings’ dihedral was changed to improve stability and the span of the tail reduced. The Antoinette engine was replaced with a Renault rated at 50 horsepower, but was quickly changed back to the Antoinette. A tank containing crushed ice was added to the condensed steam cooling system, increasing the time the engine could be run. The modified airplane is known as the Voisin-Farman I bis (also known as the Henri Farman nº 1).

Two-view illustration of L’Aeroplane Henri Farmin no. 1, with dimensions. (l’Aerophile, 16* Annee, No. 3 1 February 1908, at Page 38/{BnF Gallica}

The airplane was powered by a steam-cooled, direct-injected, 487.14 cubic-inch-displacement (7.983 liter) Société Antoinette 8V 90° V-8 direct-drive engine producing 53 horsepower at 1,100 r.p.m. The engine turned a two-bladed pusher propeller. It was designed by Léon Levavasseur. The engine was 1.120 meters (3 feet, 8 inches) long, 0.630 meters (2 feet, 1 inch) wide and (0.540 meters (1 foot, 9 inches) high. It weighed 95 kilograms (209 pounds).

Charles Voisin and Henry Farman, 1907.
Charles Voisin and Henry Farman, 1907. (Unattributed)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

5 September 1908

Goupy I triplane in the original configuration.

5 September 1908: In France, the Goupy I bis triplane makes its first flight. Designed by Louis Ambroise Goupy and built by Appareils d’Aviation Les Frères Voisin, this was a single-engine airplane with three wings. It was a two-bay triplane with a tractor configuration. The I bis was significantly lighter than the original airplane and had longer wings.

This photograph shows Goupy’s triplane in its original configuration. Note the gap between the fuselage and the lower wing. (Flight, Vol. I, No. 4, 23 January 1909, at Page 65.)

The Goupy I bis was 9.80 meters (32.15 feet) long with a wingspan of 7.50 meters (24.61 feet). The  vertical gap between the wings was 0.95 meters (3.12 feet). The three wings were slightly staggered and used assymetrical airfoils. The total wing area was 44 square meters (474 square feet). The “box kite” horizontal stabilizer had a span of 3 meters (9.84 feet) and was  0.75 meters high. The Goupy 1 bis weighed 475 kilograms (1,047 pounds).

Goupy I bis

Goupy’s triplane was originally powered by a steam-cooled, direct-injected, 487.14 cubic-inch-displacement (7.983 liter) Société Antoinette 8V 90° V-8 engine producing 53 horsepower at 1,100 r.p.m. The engine was designed by Léon Levavasseur. The Goupy I bis replaced the Antoinette with an Alessandro Anzani & Co. W-3 “fan-type” radial engine, also rated at 50 horsepower. The direct-drive engine turned a two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller with a diameter of 2.30 meters (7.55 feet).

The Goupy I bis was capable of a maximum 33 miles per hour (54 kilometers per hour).

Goupy I bis triplane (Wright State University, Wright Brothers Collection, Item number ms1_20_10_14)

Louis Ambroise Goupy was born at Paris, France, on 4 November 1875. He was the son of Louis Edmond Alexis Goupy, auditor at the Council of State, and member of the Seine-et-Oise General Council, and Mathilde Marguerite Masurier Goupy.

On 15 April 1899, Antoine Goupy married Mlle Marie Marguerite Jeanne Ferquer. They would have six children.

In 1914, M. Goupy was appointed Chevalier de la légion d’honneur. In 1937, he was promoted to Officier de la Légion d’honneur.

Antoine Goupy died in Paris, 25 January 1951.He was 75 years old.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

8 July 1908

Léon Delagrange with Thérèse Peltier, Milan, 8 July 1908. (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

8 July 1908: Thérèse Peltier (1873–1926) was the first woman to fly as a passenger aboard an airplane when she accompanied her friend, Ferdinand Léon Delagrange, aboard his Voisin biplane on a 200 meter (218 yards) flight at Milan, Italy.

She was taught to fly by Delagrange and in September 1908 made a solo flight at Turin.

Thérèse Peltier at Issy-les-Moulineaux, 17 September 1908. (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

The airplane was the first Voisin airplane, known as the Voisin-Delagrange I. It was built by Apparelles d’Aviation Les Frères Voisin, at Billancourt, France. It was a biplane with its elevator forward in a canard configuration and a “box-kite”-style rear stabilizer. The wings each had a span of 10 meters (32.8 feet) and a chord of 2 meters (6.56 feet). Its gross weight was 1,540 pounds (699 kilograms).

The airplane was powered by a steam-cooled, direct-injected, 493.41 cubic-inch (8.086 liter) Société Antoinette 8V 90° V-8 engine producing 49.2 horsepower at 1,100 r.p.m. The direct-drive engine turned a two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller with a diameter of 7 feet, 6 inches (2.286 meters) in a pusher configuration. The Antoinette V-8 weighed 265 pounds (120 kilograms).

The Voisin-Delagrange I had a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour).

After her friend, Léon Delagrange, was killed 4 January 1910 when the wing of his Blériot XI failed near Croix d’Hins, Peltier never flew again.

Léon Delagrange’s Voisin biplane in flight, 6 September 1908. (J. Theodoresco, Paris)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes