Voisin L types

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Voisin L.
Voisin LA
Type: double decker
Design country:

FranceFrance France

Manufacturer:

Aéroplanes G. Voisin

First flight:

1912

Commissioning:

1914

Production time:

1914-1917

Number of pieces:

> 2000

The Voisin L was a French biplane fighter aircraft from the First World War .

development

The Voisin L was designed by Gabriel Voisin in 1912 and was produced in 1914 in his company Aéroplanes G. Voisin in Issy-les-Moulineaux for the French air force .

Despite the bulky lattice fuselage, the pusher propeller- driven aircraft with its tubular steel construction covered with linen proved to be so weatherproof and combat-proof during the war that it remained the Allied standard bomber until 1918. In addition, many aircraft in the D-2 double -control version were used as training aircraft until the end of the war .

Voisin 1/2 (L)

When the war broke out, Voisin L types 1 and 2, equipped with air-cooled rotary motors, the 70 HP Gnôme and the 80 HP Le-Rhône, had already been delivered to four Escadrilles of the French Air Force (Aéronautique Militaire) . These were initially used as reconnaissance aircraft and artillery observers. When the French army set up GB 1 ("groupe-de bombardement") as the first pure bomber formation in autumn 1914, they equipped it with Voisin L as a tactical bomber , which could carry around 60 kg of bombs in the gondola or suspended from the side.

Voisin 3 (LA / LA.S)

The most produced version was the Voisin LA with the military designation Voisin Type 3. It was also designed before the outbreak of the war and had made its maiden flight in February 1914. It differed from the Voisin L by the more powerful Salmson (Canton-Unné) -M9 radial engine with its conspicuously placed water coolers between the nacelle and the upper wing and wings of different span. In later manufactured aircraft, the wings were staggered forward and the engine installed at an angle vertically to improve the efficiency of the propeller drive. These aircraft were given the designation LA.S (S = "surélevé" / increased). The more powerful motorization also made it possible to carry a movable 8 mm Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun , which was operated by the observer on a pivot .

Of the German opponents of this cumbersome combat aircraft was called "peasant terror", but then the crew Sergeant Joseph Frantz / Corporal Louis Quénault managed the Escadrille VB24 with such a machine on 5 October 1914 by the launch of a German aviation biplane over Reims , the first Air victory in military history.

This type was used not only by the army aviators, but also by the Marine nationale française . Called Voisin 3B-2, the LA was now mainly used as a two-seat bomber. The long-range attack on the Badische Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik in Ludwigshafen am Rhein on May 26, 1915, which was carried out by 18 aircraft of the Groupe de bombardement no 1 under Louis de Goÿs de Mézeyrac , became particularly well known . From September 1915 onwards, however, more and more night missions were made after the slow aircraft was too easy a victim of the German fighter pilots , who were appearing more and more frequently during daytime missions .

About 800 Voisin LA were delivered in France for the French army. Around 50 went to the British Army and Naval Aviation , and another 50 aircraft in England from Savages Ltd. manufactured under license. These planes later served on the fronts in Palestine , Mesopotamia, and the Aegean Sea . The Serbian aviators and an Escadrille from the Belgian Aviation Militaire were also equipped with Voisin LA.

The Società Italiana Transaerea in Turin also built 112 “Voisin SIT” with engines from Fiat , Isotta Fraschini or Renault for four squadrons of the Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare under license , while the companies DUX in Moscow , Lebedew in St. Petersburg and Tereschenko near Kiev produced about 300 to 350 Voisin LA to the Russian air force . On September 1, 1917, 70 of them were still in service on the Russian front.

Voisin 4 (LB / LB.S)

Another version was the Voisin LB or "Voisin-Canon" with the military designation Type 4, of which around 400 aircraft were delivered including the LB.S "surélevé" version, which appeared from the end of 1915. The LB, which first flew in February 1915, differed from the L versions in that it had slightly staggered wings. It was equipped with a pivot-mounted, bow-mounted 47 mm Hotchkiss rapid-fire cannon for ground combat operations in support of ground troops. This makes the Voisin LB the world's first aircraft equipped with an on-board cannon.

Voisin 5/6 (LA.S)

The Voisin Type 5 with a 150 hp Salmson engine already carried a bomb load of 150 kg and was the most produced version after the Type 3. This replaced the earlier L / LA types from 1916, followed by the Type 6 with a 155 HP Salmson engine.

In addition to France, the Voisin 5 was also used by Switzerland (one machine), Romania , Russia and the Ukraine , where it was also used in the civil war .

Technical specifications

Parameter L (Type 1) L (Type 2) LA / LA.S (Type 3) LB / LB.S (Type 4) LA / LA.S (Type 5) LA / LA.S (Type 6)
Construction year 1913 1914 1914-1915 1916-1917
Intended use spotter Scouts, bombers bomber Ground attack aircraft bomber
number of pieces > 1000 400 350
crew 2
length 10.50 m 9.50 m 10.28 m 9.62 m
span 13.50 m 14.75 m
height 2.90 m 3.80 m 3.63 m 3.80 m
Wing area 42 m² 49.66 m²
Empty mass 825 kg 1122 kg 800 kg
Takeoff mass 1100 kg 1370 kg 1400 kg 1140 kg
drive Gnôme 7A, 70 PS (51 kW) Le Rhône 9C, 80 HP (59 kW) Salmson M9, 120 PS (88 kW) Salmson M9, 150 PS (110 kW) Salmson M9, 154 PS (113 kW)
Top speed (in altitude) 95 km / h 120 km / h 96 km / h (in 2000 m) 109 km / h (in 2000 m) 113 km / h (in 2000 m)
Climbing time to 1000 m 11 min
Climbing time to 2000 m 23 min 21:30 min
Ascent time to 3000 m
Service ceiling 3000 m 3500 m
Range 200 km
Flight duration 3:30 h
Armament Bombs MG, bombs 37/47 mm cannon, bombs 47mm cannon / machine gun, bombs

  • Designer Gabriel Voisin (left) with his brother Charles, who died in 1912

  • Voisin Type 3 (LA)

  • View into the pilot's cockpit

  • Voisin Type 3 (LA)

  • Voisin Type 4 (LB) of the Escadrille V.21 with staggered wings

  • Armored Voisin with on-board cannon, reinforced landing gear and armored cell

  • Armored Voisin with Hotchkiss machine gun, reinforced landing gear, triple tail unit and armored cell

  • Voisin LB of the Escadrille V.114

  • Crash landed Voisin of the Escadrille V.114

  • Voisin in the hangar of the Escadrille V.114

  • Voisin with an on-board cannon mounted on a pivot mount

  • Voisin Type 5B-2 (LA)

  • Russian Voisin 3 in Moronino

Preserved copies

Preserved aircraft are exhibited in the Musée del l'air in Chalais-Meudon, the Brussels Aviation Museum and the Russian Air Force Museum. The replica of a Voisin 3 can be seen in the Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver (Washington) .

literature

  • Enzo Angelucci, Paolo Matricardi: The planes. From the beginning to the First World War. Falken-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1976, ISBN 3-8068-0391-9 , ( Falken manual in color ).
  • Karlheinz Kens, Hanns Müller: The aircraft of the First World War 1914–1918. Heyne, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-453-00404-3 .
  • Kenneth Munson: Bomber 1914-1919. 1st edition. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1968, pp. 20, 99-101.
  • Heinz Nowarra: The Development of Airplanes 1914–1918. Lehmanns, Munich 1959.

Web links

Commons : Voisin planes  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.md-11.org/voisin.htm (accessed September 18, 2015)
  2. ↑ http://acepilots.com/wwi/voisin.html (accessed September 18, 2015)
  3. ↑ http://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/voisin-iii/ (accessed September 19, 2015)
  4. ↑ http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25556.htm (accessed September 18, 2015)
  5. ↑ http://www.pyperpote.tonsite.biz/listinmae/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96:les-as-de-1418&catid=48:news-et-bruits-de-couloir&Itemid=57 (accessed September 18, 2015)
  6. ↑ http://www.airmuseum.be/aircraftondisplay/ (accessed September 18, 2015)
  7. ↑ http://www.museum.ru/C3543, accessed September 19, 2015
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gFUw68FwG4 (accessed September 18, 2015)