Antoinette VII
| Antoinette VII | |
|---|---|
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| Type: | Sport plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
April 17, 1909 |
| Commissioning: |
1909 |
The Antoinette VII was a French monoplane from 1909. The Antoinette VII was one of the first successfully mass-produced aircraft. With its immediate predecessor, the Antoinette IV, attempts were made to fly over the English Channel first.
The company Société Antoinette was in 1904 by Léon Levavasseur founded. Levavasseur actually dealt with boat engines. The outstanding 8-cylinder Antoinette V engine, one of the most important aircraft engines in early aviation , was created on the basis of these engines .
From 1908 Levavasseur then built its own aircraft. The Antoinette I – III were replicas of other machines. From the Antoinette IV , Levavasseur constructed his famous Antoinette monoplane, which had a boat-like hull. With the Antoinette VI he switched the control of the aircraft from ailerons to wing twisting. The machine made its maiden flight on April 17, 1909 . Shortly before that, Hubert Latham had become chief pilot at Société Antoinette.
Flight attempts over the English Channel
The English newspaper Daily Mail offered a prize for 10,000 pounds sterling in October 1908. This was to be given to whoever flew over the English Channel first. Levavasseur really wanted to win this award, so Latham made a number of long test flights with the Antoinette IV.
On July 19, 1909, Latham made the first attempt to fly over the English Channel with an Antoinette IV. The starting point was the Cap Blanc-Nez near Sangatte on the French coast. Latham was accompanied by the French frigate Harpon. The flight took off at 6.42 a.m. Latham did not manage to cross, however, and fell into the canal after an engine failure after a flight of 13 km. The frigate Harpon pulled him and his engine out of the sea.
Levavasseur then relied on his improved Antoinette VII machine to fly over the canal again. The machine made its maiden flight on July 25, 1909. On the same day, the Frenchman Louis Blériot made the flight across the English Channel with his Blériot XI monoplane.
Levavasseur still wanted to prove that his Antoinette VII was also capable of this. On July 27 Latham started again. This time the aircraft came within around 2.5 km of the English coast before the engine failed again. Latham was recovered from the British battleship Russell.
Flight week in Reims 1909
During the flight week in Reims from August 22 to 29, 1909, Latham performed again with the Antoinette VII. He won the altitude prize with an altitude of 155 m.
Further successes of Antoinette VII
On January 7, 1910, Latham became the first person to reach an altitude of 1,000 m in an airplane. Over the next two years Latham set various speed and long distance records with the Antoinette VII. On April 23, 1910, Hubert Latham set the world speed record for land planes in Nice with 77.579 km / h.
In 1911 Levavasseur still built the Antoinette type Latham Monobloc , the first fully faired and aerodynamically shaped aircraft. However, at 1,350 kg it was too heavy to take off with a 50 hp engine.
Hubert Latham traveled in 1912 by French Congo for big game hunting . He died on June 7, 1912 in a hunting accident.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Antoinette VII |
|---|---|
| crew | a pilot, also as a two-seater |
| length | 11.50 m |
| span | 12.80 m |
| height | 3.00 m |
| Wing area | 50 m² |
| Takeoff mass | 590 kg |
| drive | an eight-cylinder V-engine Antoinette 8V with 36 kW (50 PS) |
| Top speed | 70 km / h |
Museum plane
An Antoinette VII is in the Musée de l'air et de l'espace at Le Bourget Airport . An airworthy replica is in the Flying Museum in Großenhain.
