| Type X Charabanc | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Five-seat passenger-carrying biplane |
| Manufacturer | Grahame-White Aviation Company |
| Designer | J. D. North |
| First flight | 1913 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Grahame-White Type X Charabanc or Aerobus was a 1910s British passenger-carrying biplane designed and built by the Grahame-White Aviation Company based at Hendon Aerodrome, North London.
The Charabanc was built by the Grahame-White company to meet the demand for passenger-carrying flights, which could not be satisfied by the existing two-seat designs. Designed by J. D. North, it was an unequal-span pusher biplane, with ailerons on both upper and lower wings, and a biplane tail unit with three rudders mounted on booms. An elongated nacelle mounted on the lower wing housed the pilot in the front, plus four passengers in two rows of two seats behind. [1] The wing spars, tail booms and outer interplane struts were of hollow section spruce, and the nacelle and inner struts were of ash.
It first flew in 1913, powered by a 120 hp (89 kW) Austro-Daimler engine, and in this form was flown by Louis Noel with seven passengers aboard to set a British world record on 22 September 1913. On 2 October 1913, he set a world record in carrying nine passengers, staying aloft for nearly twenty minutes. [1] To meet the entry requirements for the 1913 Michelin Cup, which required an all-British aircraft, this was replaced by a British-built 100 hp (75 kW) Green E.6 engine. The Charabanc went on to win the cup, covering a distance of over 300 miles on 9 November 1913, piloted by R.H. Carr. [2]
The first parachute descent from an aircraft in Great Britain was made by W. Newell from the aircraft, at Hendon on 9 May 1914. [3]
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing, Page 1998
General characteristics
Performance
The Blackburn R.T.1 Kangaroo was a British twin-engine reconnaissance torpedo biplane of the First World War, built by Blackburn Aircraft.
The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.1 was designed and built in 1910 by the pioneer designer Geoffrey de Havilland. He used it to teach himself to fly during late 1910. After De Havilland was appointed assistant designer and test pilot at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough in December 1910 the War Office bought the aircraft for £400. the aircraft was given the designation F.E.1
The Avro Type D was an aircraft built in 1911 by the pioneer British aircraft designer A.V. Roe. Roe had previously built and flown several aircraft at Brooklands, most being tractor layout triplanes. The Type D was his first biplane.
The BAT F.K.24 Baboon was a British two-seat training biplane produced by British Aerial Transport Company Limited of London during World War I.
The Short Admiralty Type 74 was a single-engined biplane tractor seaplane with non-folding wings, which saw service with the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War.
The Pemberton-Billing P.B.25 was a First World War British single-seat scout aircraft built by Pemberton-Billing Limited, later Supermarine Aviation Works Limited.
The Bristol Gordon England biplanes were a series of early British military biplane aircraft designed by Eric Gordon England for the Bristol Aeroplane Company that first flew in 1912. Designed for easy ground transport, the aircraft could be quickly disassembled.
The Sopwith Admiralty Type 807 was a 1910s British biplane seaplane designed and built for the Admiralty by the Sopwith Aviation Company.
The Grahame-White Ganymede was a prototype British heavy night bomber intended to serve with the Royal Air Force in the First World War. A large, three-engined, twin-boom biplane, the sole prototype Ganymede did not fly until after the war had ended, and although an attempt was made to convert the aircraft to an airliner, it was unsuccessful.
The Handley Page Type G was a two-seat British biplane, designed by Handley Page that first flew in 1913. Only one was built.
The Albatros C.II was a 1910s German military pusher reconnaissance biplane designed and built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke. Only one aircraft was built and the type did not enter production.
The Dunne D.8 of 1912 was a tailless swept wing biplane, designed by J. W. Dunne to have inherent stability. One example was supplied to RAE Farnborough. License-built Burgess-Dunne models were used by the US Signal Corps and United States Navy and the short-lived Canadian Aviation Corps. It was the latter's first and only warplane.
The Dunne D.7 was one of J. W. Dunne's swept wing tailless aircraft designed to have automatic stability, first flying in 1911. It was a single seat, single engined pusher monoplane developed from the unsuccessful D.6.
The Grahame-White G.W.E.7 was a British twin-engined transport biplane, designed by M Boudot and built by Grahame-White Aviation Company at Hendon.
The ASL Viking was a single-engined two seater biplane aircraft designed and built by Horatio Barber's Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd. at Hendon. It was first flown in January 1912.
The Vickers E.F.B.1 'Destroyer' was an early British military aircraft prototype. Although not itself a success, the design was considered worth developing, and a series of similar aircraft were produced in prototype form, eventually leading to the Vickers F.B.5 "Gunbus", which saw widespread service during World War I.
The Grahame-White Type VI was an early British military aircraft manufactured by the Grahame-White Aviation Company. Only one was built but after an abortive flight development was abandoned.
The Graham-White Type VII "Popular" was an early British aircraft designed by J. D. North and built by the Grahame-White Aviation company, with the intention of producing a low-cost aircraft to popularize aviation. It was initially produced with a 35 hp Anzani 3-cylinder Y configuration engine and offered for sale at a price of less than £400. Despite its low price the aircraft included structural refinements such as hollow-section interplane struts. It was first flown in 1913.
The Short S.80 was an early British floatplane built by Short Brothers for Frank McClean to undertake an aerial expedition up the Nile to investigate the cataracts between Aswan and Khartoum. After a successful flight to Khartoum it was returned to England, where it was used for training by the RNAS. When built it was the largest successful aircraft that had been constructed in Britain. It was also known as the Short Nile Pusher Biplane Seaplane.
The Caudron Type B was a 1911 development of the earliest Caudron type, the Caudron Type A, with a nacelle style fuselage and more powerful engine. Initially an equal span biplane, it was modified into a sesquiplane.