Gastambide-Mengin monoplane

The Gastambide-Mengin monoplane (later Gastambide-Mengin I, Gastambide-Mengin II and Antoinette II) was an early French experimental aircraft designed by Léon Levavasseur, and was the first aircraft built by the Antoinette company.[1] The name came from Jules Gastambide, who financed the company, and Gabriel Mengin, the aircraft engineer.[2]

Gastambide-Mengin / Antoinette II
Role Experimental monoplane
Manufacturer Antoinette
Designer Léon Levavasseur
First flight 8 February 1908
Number built 1

Design and development

The monoplane (later known as the Gastambide-Mengin I) was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Antoinette piston engine driving a tractor propeller.[1] It was noted for having a complex quadricycle landing gear.[1] The monoplane made four flights between 8 and 14 February 1908 flown by a mechanic named Boyer, the furthest being a flight of 150 m.[1] 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-hinged triangular ailerons.[1] 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.[1] With lessons learnt from the design, Levavasseur went on to design a family of monoplanes named after Antoinette Gastambide, the daughter of Jules Gastambide.[1]

Specifications

Data from [1][2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Length: 7.9 m (26 ft 0 in)
  • Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 24 m2 (258 sq ft)
  • Max takeoff weight: 350 kg (772 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Antoinette 8V V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 37 kW (50 hp)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Levavasseur paddle bladed propeller

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Antoinette II.

Related lists List of aircraft (pre-1914)

References
Notes
  1. Orbis 1985, p. 238
  2. Bruno Parmentier (2017-12-08). "Gastambide-Mengin Monoplan - Avion expérimental - Un siècle d'aviation française". Aviafrance.com. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
Bibliography
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