916 



Popular Science Monthly 



How the French Developed Their 

 Newest Type of Battleplane 



FOR a long time the principal French 

 reconnoitering and bombing air- 

 planes were only slight modifications of 

 the early Henry Farman type, well known 

 in America. That airplane was stripped 

 down to the last essentials: ailerons, 

 elevator, rudder and a simple four- 

 wheeled landing gear with rubber shock- 

 absorbers (then a novelty). The pilot was 

 perched on the front edge of the lower 

 plane. A large fuel tank formed the back 

 of his seat; directly behind it was the 

 Gnome motor with a big, low-pitched 

 pusher-propeller. That arrangement 

 made a fuselage or hull impracticable. 

 The big, double-control surfaces had to 

 be carried by a wide open "cage" of 

 poles (at first of bamboo) and wires. 

 Farman was not a scientist, not an engi- 

 neer, not an inventor, but a bicycle rider 

 who knew what was practical in flying. 



When the war began, Farman's homely 

 type of airplane ousted the complicated 

 Breguet biplanes and all the mono- 

 planes because of its dependability. It 

 was not improved much — simply given 

 stronger, better engines, simpler control 

 surfaces, some streamlining and an 

 enclosed body for the aviator. All this 

 was, of course, not sufficient to permit the 

 development of modern speeds. 



From the very beginning the French 

 also had some Caudrons, large biplanes, 

 from which the modern type of speed air- 

 planes was developed. In these machines 

 the body was turned into a fuselage be- 

 cause there were twin motors and pro- 

 pellers out on the planes. A central 



fuselage offered, therefore, the simplest 

 mounting for rudder, elevator and sta- 

 bilizers. This developed in it the germ of a 

 speed machine. Thus it came about that 

 the Caudron forged ahead more and 

 more, as the science of aviation pro- 

 gressed and developed. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 one of the latest developments of this 

 type, a true, up-to-date speed machine. 

 Streamlining is proclaimed paramount by 

 the form of the engine housings which are 

 so arranged that they permit the wind to 

 reach and cool the machinery. Other 

 obvious proofs of minimum head resist- 

 ance are the characteristic nose of the 

 fuselage, the remarkably slender struts 

 and staywires made vibrationless by 

 holding two parallel wires against an 

 intermediate piece of wood. 



Appropriately Enough — A Band of 

 Brigands Were the First "Chauffeurs" 



HERE is a justification for a bit of our 

 American slang. It seems that the 

 word chauffeur means "scorcher." 



Over a century ago, some particularly 

 brigandish brigands lived on the border- 

 land between France and Germany. To 

 force ransoms from their captives, these 

 desperadoes grilled the soles of their 

 victims' feet before a fierce fire. So the 

 countryfolk referred to the band as 

 scorchers or, in French, chauffeurs. 



Not so many years back, when these 

 same imaginative French were in need 

 of a descriptive name for motor-car 

 drivers, they hit upon the word chauffeur. 

 Just how much "scorching" of a more 

 modern kind these up-to-date brigands of 

 the road indulge in is best divulged by 

 police records of fines for speeding. 



This latest type airplane, intended for reconnoitering duty in the Marne sector, is just 

 put together by expert workmen back of the French lines. It is built for speed 



