Kellner-Béchereau 23

Last updated
Kellner-Béchereau 23
Role Touring aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Kellner-Béchereau
First flight 1932
Number built 1

The Kellner-Béchereau 23 was a French two seat cabin touring aircraft, built in 1932. Its wing was constructed in a novel way. Only one was completed.

France Republic with mainland in Europe and numerous oversea territories

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Contents

Design

The Kellner-Béchereau 23 was the first aircraft known as a Kellner-Béchereau (the company was founded in 1931), though the only example built (F-AKGH) was originally marked as the Béchereau 23. [1]

Kellner-Béchereau

Avions Kellner-Béchereau, known as Kellner-Béchereau, was a French aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century.

It was a single engine cabin aircraft with an all-metal, three part cantilever wing constructed in a novel way. In place of spars, an approximately oval section, light metal tube, shaped around a wooden form which was then removed, provided both structural strength and formed the outer skin of the forward half of the wing. A more conventional lattice structure was attached to the rear of the tube and supported ailerons. The whole wing was then fabric covered. [2] [3]

Cantilever beam anchored at only one end

A cantilever is a rigid structural element, such as a beam or a plate, anchored at one end to a support from which it protrudes; this connection could also be perpendicular to a flat, vertical surface such as a wall. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs. When subjected to a structural load, the cantilever carries the load to the support where it is forced against by a moment and shear stress.

Spar (aeronautics) Main structural member of the wing of an aircraft

In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on the ground. Other structural and forming members such as ribs may be attached to the spar or spars, with stressed skin construction also sharing the loads where it is used. There may be more than one spar in a wing or none at all. However, where a single spar carries the majority of the forces on it, it is known as the main spar.

Aileron Aircraft control surface used to induce roll

An aileron is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll, which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'.

In plan, the wing was approximately elliptical. The centre section, occupying about 20% of the span, was built into the fuselage and the outer panels tapered rapidly to pointed tips. The wings also tapered in section; the upper surface was horizontal but the lower sloped upwards, providing about 5° dihedral at the centreline. Their trailing edges were entirely filled with two-part, high aspect ratio ailerons. [2]

Fuselage aircraft main body which is the primary carrier of crew, passengers, and payload

The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, and cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, as well, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage, which in turn is used as a floating hull. The fuselage also serves to position control and stabilization surfaces in specific relationships to lifting surfaces, which is required for aircraft stability and maneuverability.

Dihedral (aeronautics)

Dihedral angle is the upward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft. "Anhedral angle" is the name given to negative dihedral angle, that is, when there is a downward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft.

Trailing edge

The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge rejoins. Essential flight control surfaces are attached here to control the direction of the departing air flow, and exert a controlling force on the aircraft. Such control surfaces include ailerons on the wings for roll control, elevators on the tailplane controlling pitch, and the rudder on the fin controlling yaw. Elevators and ailerons may be combined as elevons on tailless aircraft.

Its flat-sided cross-section fuselage was built around four spruce longerons, transversely braced with steel tubes. They supported a light, fabric covered body formed with plywood frames and stringers. The 71 kW (95 hp) Salmson 7AC, a seven-cylinder radial engine, was in a pointed nose with its cylinders exposed for cooling. Its fuel tanks were in the wing centre-section. The tourer's cabin seated two in tandem under a long, multi-part, fully glazed canopy which ran from the leading edge to mid-chord, then blended without change in height into the upper fuselage. The cabin had two small baggage holds in the centre wing section, each providing 0.1125 m3 (3.97 cu ft) of space. [2]

Spruce genus of plants

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea, a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. Spruces are large trees, from about 20–60 m tall when mature, and have whorled branches and conical form. They can be distinguished from other members of the pine family by their needles (leaves), which are four-sided and attached singly to small persistent peg-like structures on the branches, and by their cones, which hang downwards after they are pollinated. The needles are shed when 4–10 years old, leaving the branches rough with the retained pegs. In other similar genera, the branches are fairly smooth.

Plywood manufactured wood panel made from thin sheets of wood veneer

Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards which includes medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and particle board (chipboard).

Radial engine reciprocating engine with cylinders arranged radially from a single crankshaft

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some languages. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant.

The empennage of the Kellner-Béchereau 23 was conventional, with a triangular tailplane mounted on the upper fuselage and carrying narrow, rounded elevators was wire braced to the blunted triangular fin which carried a curved and narrow unbalanced rudder. The tourer had a fixed tailwheel undercarriage with independent mainwheels on hinged V-struts from the fuselage underside and near-vertical sprung legs, with Béchereau shock absorbers, from the wings. The mainwheels, with a track of 2.80 m (9 ft 2 in), were equipped with independent brakes. At the rear the sprung tailwheel was free to castor. [2]

Empennage tail section of an aircraft containing stabilizers

The empennage, also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow. The term derives from the French language word empenner which means "to feather an arrow". Most aircraft feature an empennage incorporating vertical and horizontal stabilising surfaces which stabilise the flight dynamics of yaw and pitch, as well as housing control surfaces.

Tailplane small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes

A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes. Not all fixed-wing aircraft have tailplanes. Canards, tailless and flying wing aircraft have no separate tailplane, while in V-tail aircraft the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and the tail-plane and elevator are combined to form two diagonal surfaces in a V layout.

Elevator (aeronautics) type of flight control surface

Elevators are flight control surfaces, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft's pitch, and therefore the angle of attack and the lift of the wing. The elevators are usually hinged to the tailplane or horizontal stabilizer. They may be the only pitch control surface present, sometimes located at the front of the aircraft or integrated into a rear "all-moving tailplane" also called a slab elevator or stabilator.

Operational history

The date of the Kellner-Béchereau 23's first flight is not known but by early September 1932 it was sufficiently developed to begin its official tests with the S.T. Aé at Villacoublay, flown by Seitz. [4] These were resumed in December. [5] In September 1933 it was one of the eleven aircraft in the third annual, eight day Tour de France des avions prototypes. [6]

Specifications

Data from Les Ailes July 1932

General characteristics

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 164 km/h (102 mph; 89 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 123 km/h (76 mph; 66 kn)
  • Range: 300 km (186 mi; 162 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 7,950 m (26,080 ft)
  • Time to altitude: 45 min to 6,555 m (21,506 ft)
  • Take-off distance: 145 m (476 ft)
  • Landing distance: 140 m (460 ft)

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References

  1. ↑ Bernard, Martin; Sparrow, Dave; Espérou, Bernard (March 2013). "F-1922 - The French Civil Register from 1922". Air Britain Archive: 2013/037.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Frachet, André (28 July 1932). "L'avion Kellner-Béchereau". Les Ailes (580): 3.
  3. ↑ "Avion Kellner-Béchereau". Le Genie Civil. CI, no.24 (2626): 579. 10 December 1932.
  4. ↑ "D'aérodome en aérodrome". Les Ailes (587): 12. 15 September 1932.
  5. ↑ "Sur les aérodromes - A Villacoublay". Les Ailes (602): 14. 29 December 1932.
  6. ↑ "Sur les aérodromes - Les tour de France des avions prototypes". Les Ailes (602): 14. 14 September 1933.


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