Aviméta 88

Aviméta 88 photo from L'Aéronautique August,1927

Aviméta, (Société pour la Construction d'Avions Métallique)‚ grew out of the Aeronautical Department of the Schneider-Creusot arms manufacturer.[1] Both the frame and the corrugated covering of the Aviméta 88 were made from Alferium, an aluminium-iron alloy developed by Schneiders.[1]

It was a parasol aircraft, with wings of constant chord and with slightly pointed, semi-elliptical tips. The thin-airfoil-section wings were built around two lattice girder spars and had a skin thickness of 300 μm. There was a large, trapezoidal cut-out in the trailing edge to improve the view from the cockpits. Its aileron hinges were set at a shallow angle to the trailing edge.[2]

The wings were braced to the fuselage with a parallel pair of struts from the lower longerons to the spars at about mid-span assisted by N-form, cross-braced jury struts at right angles. Four very short struts from the upper fuselage longerons to the wing centre section formed a low cabane.[2][3]

The square-section, rounded-cornered fuselage was built around these four longerons and a set of diagonally braced formers.[1] The Aviméta's 444 kW (595 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Hb water-cooled V-12 engine[4] was in a pointed nose, driving a two-blade propeller. There were two open cockpits, with the pilot forward at mid-chord and the gunner/observer behind in line with the trailing edge. Behind the cockpits the fuselage tapered rapidly in profile to a conventional empennage, with the tailplane mounted at mid-fuselage. Both horizontal and vertical surfaces were strongly tapered, particularly on the leading edges, with a broad tailplane and fin but with small, inset elevators and rudder.[1][2] The Aviméta 88 had independent bungee-sprung wheels on legs enclosed in tapered trouser fairings attached to the lower longerons at the bottom of the wing struts.[2][3]

The Aviméta 88 was on show at the December 1926 Paris Aero Salon.[1] It may not have flown by that date, and rather little is known about its later history, though it gave a "pretty impressive" display at Villacoublay in September 1927.[5] Development was terminated when the official call for a two-seat fighter-reconnaissance aircraft was rescinded.[4]

Aviméta 88 3-view drawing from L'Aéronautique December,1926

Data from Flight (2 December 1926)[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: 9.76 m (32 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 17.00 m (55 ft 9 in)
• Height: 3.55 m (11 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 40 m² (430 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,550 kg (3,417 lb)
• Gross weight: 2,400 kg (5,291 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 310 kg (680 lb) (420 L (92 imp gal; 110 US gal)) in crash proof and in-flight jettisonable tank
• Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 12Hb[4] water-cooled V-12, 444 kW (595 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed

Performance

• Maximum speed: 240 km/h (150 mph, 130 kn) at sea level, 220 km/h (140 mph) at 5,000 m (16,000 ft)
• Service ceiling: 7,500 m (24,600 ft)
• Time to altitude: 16 min to 5,000 m (16,000 ft)

Armament

• two fixed, synchronised 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine guns firing through propeller disc[4] and two more mounted on the wing.
• pair of Lewis guns[4] on flexible mounting in rear cockpit.