| C.800 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Two-seat basic training glider |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | SNCAN |
| Designer | Raymond Jarlaud |
| First flight | April 1942 |
| Number built | 315 |
The Caudron C.800, at first also known as the Epervier (English: Sparrowhawk) is a French two seat training glider, designed and first flown during World War II and put into large scale post-war production. It was the dominant basic training glider with French clubs until the 1960s and several still fly.
Design of the Caudron C.800 began soon after the Franco-German Armistice of June 1940, proceeding in parallel with that of the Castel C.25S. Both aircraft were intended to increase the number of machines available for recreational gliding in the southern, unoccupied region of France. Its wood framed, fabric covered high wings are braced from below with short and quite broad chord faired struts, one on each side, from the lower fuselage to the constant chord wing centre section. Outboard the wing panels taper roughly elliptically, with obliquely hinged ailerons filling their whole trailing edges. [1] [2]
The fuselage is a plywood covered wooden monocoque [2] with an oval cross section; the wing is mounted at the highest point immediately behind the cockpit, which places instructor and pupil in side-by-side seats ahead of the leading edge, equipped with dual control and covered by a short, upward opening, rear hinged, multi-piece canopy. [1] There is another pair of opening fuselage transparencies immediately below the canopy. Behind the wing the fuselage tapers, initially quickly, to the tail where the narrow chord, round tipped tailplane is mounted, with some dihedral, on top of it. The broader, split elevators are ahead of a straight edged, blunt tipped narrow fin and wide rudder. Like the wings, the empennage is wood framed and fabric covered. The monowheel undercarriage is assisted by a sprung, wooden skid reaching forwards from the wheel to the nose, and by a tail skid. [1]
Two prototype C.800s were flown during World War II, the first in April 1942. [3] [4] A single-seat version, the C.810 was also flown in 1942 but these two prototypes were destroyed by bombing. An improved single-seat variant, the C.811 was flown after 1945 but not developed; it was seen by the French Air Ministry as too similar to existing types such as the Grunau. [3]
In 1951 an improved version of the C.800 named C.801 was designed by Raymond Jarlaud. This had a reinforced structure, an enlarged rudder and balanced ailerons. Cockpit visibility was improved by simplifying the frames with more curved glazing and ground handling was made easier by moving the monowheel forward. [3] [5]
After the liberation of France in 1944, the French government ordered 450 as part of an effort to revive French aviation, though this was later reduced to 248. [4] Production of 300 began in 1945 at the Aire-sur-Adour factory of the Fouga company, by then part of SCAN. Most went to civil gliding clubs becoming, along with the Castel C.25S, the national standard two-seat trainer type until their replacement by the Wassmer WA 30 Bijave in the early 1960s. It remained an important club stalwart for twenty years after its introduction. [3] Some were operated by the French Air Force and Aéronavale. [4]
Ten C.801s were built at Aire-sur-Adour [3] but were withdrawn from use in 1957 on safety grounds. [5]
In 2010 six C.800s remained on the French civil aircraft register and one on the Dutch. [6]
Data from Aviation Museums and Collections of Mainland Europe. [7] C.800s are on public display at
Data from The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde [2]
General characteristics
Performance
production figures as stated in a special edition of AVIASPORT for French glider types, published by Pierre Bonneau in 1960
production figures as stated in a special edition of AVIASPORT for French glider types, published by Pierre Bonneau in 1960
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caudron C.800 . |
The Göppingen Gö 4 or Goevier is a German sailplane of the late 1930s used for training pilots. Its most notable features include side-by-side seating and dual controls, making the plane ideal for use as a trainer. It boasted average performance, compared to other gliders of the day, and was advertised as making the process of learning to fly sailplanes easier.
The Aer-Pegaso M-100 was a single-seat glider designed and built in Italy from 1967.
The Slingsby T.21 is an open-cockpit, side-by-side two-seat glider, built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd and first flown in 1944. It was widely used by the RAF, Sri Lanka Air Force and by civilian gliding clubs.
The Neiva B Monitor, also designated B-2, is a Brazilian tandem two-seat glider aircraft designed and manufactured by Indústria Aeronáutica Neiva between 1945 and 1955 for primary training and general flying.
The PIK-3 was a sailplane produced in Finland in the 1950s and 60s. It was designed to be a cheap and easy-to-build aircraft to equip the country's gliding clubs as their standard single-seat machine. It was a conventional design for its day, with a high wing and conventional empennage. Construction was of wood throughout, skinned in plywood.
The SZD-6x Nietoperz was a single-seat tail-less experimental glider aircraft that was designed and built in Poland at Szybowcowy Zakład Doświadczalny in Bielsko-Biała in 1951. Only one example was constructed.
The Slingsby T.50 Skylark 4 was a British single seat competition glider built by Slingsby Sailplanes in the early 1960s. It sold in numbers and had success at national, though not world level competition.
The DFS Weihe is a German single-seat, high-wing, 18 metre wingspan, high-performance glider that was designed by Hans Jacobs in 1937-38.
The Rubik R-26 Góbé is a family of Hungarian shoulder-wing, two-seat training gliders that was designed by Ernő Rubik Sr., and produced by Auto-Aero. After its introduction the R-26 Góbé became the de facto training glider type in Hungary and is still used by many clubs for basic instruction.
The Ikarus Meteor is a long-span, all-metal sailplane designed and built in Yugoslavia in the 1950s. It competed in World Gliding Championships (WGC) between 1956 and 1968 and was placed fourth in 1956; it also set new triangular-course world speed records.
The Rubik R-25 Mokány, in English: Plucky person and sometimes known as the R-25 Standard (class), is a Hungarian single seat Standard Class glider of all-metal construction, first flown in 1960. It was one of a series of similar aircraft designed by Ernő Rubik. Only one was built.
The Wassmer WA 20 Javelot and its very similar successors the WA 21 Javelot II and WA 22 Super Javelot are single seat gliders built in France in the 1950s and 1960s. Well over a hundred were sold as club aircraft and over fifty remain on the French civil register in 2010.
The Kometa-Standard was a Standard Class glider, designed and built in Bulgaria in the early 1960s. Thirty were flown by local gliding clubs.
The Antonov A-11 is a single-seat, high performance, all-metal sailplane built in the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. 150 were produced.
The Castel C.25S, sometimes known as the Aire, is a French training glider with side by side seating first flown during World War II. Post war, more than 100 were built for clubs, establishing national records. Several remained registered in 2010.
The Arsenal Émouchet, more commonly known as Sports Aériens Émouchet, Air Émouchet, or Guerchais-Roche Émouchet, is a modest performance, single-seat training glider designed and first produced in France during World War II. Quantity production continued post-war, when it played an important part in re-equipping the French glider movement through its clubs.
The Győr-2 was a high performance sailplane designed and built at the Aircraft Designer and Builder Group, Aeroclub of the Rolling-stock Factory, Győr in Hungary in the early 1950s.
The Scheibe Specht is a tandem seat training glider produced in Germany in the early 1950s. More than fifty were built.
The Bréguet Br 902 Cinzano was a French training glider produced in the 1950s by Société anonyme des Ateliers d'aviation Louis Bréguet
The Ilić Ilindenka was a series of Yugoslavian standard class sailplanes capable of aerobatics.