Monday, May 9, 2011

France - 1914 Caudron G.III

French Two Seat Reconnaissance Aircraft

Caudron G.III - 1914

The Caudron G.III may be a bit clunky but it has a certain appeal. It was built during the early days before ailerons or synchronized machine guns. Because it was unarmed it could use a tractor engine. I worked up two profiles for this airplane. One in the aluminum paint and the other in basic varnished linen.

The French Caudron G.III was a two seat, single-engined tractor biplane, with a twin-boom tail. The end of the lower booms was used as a landing skid. It was initially built in May of 1913. Its wing spars were of ash and spruce with reinforcing strips of metal. The wings had no dihedral. The design used wing warping, rather than ailerons, for controlling movement of the aircraft. Initially, the horizontal stabilizer also used warping, but later a hinged stabilizer was added. The aircraft was used as an Army cooperation and reconnaissance machine.

2 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

They look flimsy, watched the new version of the Red Baron at the weekend, very good movie.

Unknown said...

Yeah very flimsy, but compared to a lot of 1914 aircraft it was almost robust. it had to be an act of faith to take an unarmed aircraft up during the early years. I want to see the movie. I'll look for a review of it on your blog.