REP Type K

Type K
Role	Sport aircraft
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Designer	Robert Esnault-Pelterie
First flight	1913
Developed from	REP Type B

The REP Type K was a sport aircraft designed and produced in France by Robert Esnault-Pelterie. ^[1] beginning in 1913. ^[2] Unlike his first designs, it was of conventional configuration, one of a family of related aircraft he produced around this time. ^[3] A military version was produced in 1914. ^{[2] [4]}

Design

The two-seat Type K was very similar to other REP designs of the same period. ^[5] It was a conventional, shoulder-wing monoplane which seated the pilot and a single passenger in tandem in an open cockpit. ^[6] It had conventional tailskid undercarriage and was powered by a piston engine in the nose driving a tractor propeller. ^[6] Lateral control was via wing-warping and the aircraft featured a joystick for pitch and roll control. and a footbar for its rudder. ^[5] Unusually for the day, the fuselage and tail structure was of steel tube. ^[5] Some examples had a triangular fin, others had a comma-shaped fin. ^[2]

Operational history

A Type K was exhibited at the 1913 Paris Aero Show. ^{[2] [5]}

These aircraft saw brief service with the French Army in the months before World War I. ^[6] It proved ineffective in its role as a reconnaissance aircraft because its large wings obstructed the view of the ground. ^[6] The Type Ks were quickly withdrawn from service. ^[6]

One example, construction number 27, is preseved at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace ("Air and Space Museum") in Paris. ^{[6] [7]}

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 pilot
• Capacity: 1 passenger
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Lambda air-cooled, seven-cylinder, rotary engine engine, 60 kW (80 hp)

Notes

References

1. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft 1983, p.1616
2. Opdycke 1999, p.215
3. Munson 1969, p.130
4. Robert Esnault-Pelterie 1923
5. "The Paris Aero Salon 1913: Fifth article" 1914, p.33
6. "REP type K" 2019
7. Devaux & Marani 1996, p.4

Bibliography

• Devaux, Jean; Marani, Michel (April 1996). "Le mysterieux 'REP' Type D du musée de l'air et de l'espace" [The mysterious REP Type D of the Air and Space Museum]. Pégase : revue de l'association des amis du musée de l'air[Pegasus: magazine of the association of the friends of the Air Museum] (in French). No. 81. Paris: L'association des amis du musée de l'air. pp. 4–7.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing.
• Munson, Kenneth (1969). Pioneer Aircraft 1903–14. London: Blandford.
• Opdycke, Leonard E. (1999). French Aeroplanes Before the Great War. Atglen PA: Schiffer.
• "The Paris Aero Salon 1913: Fifth article". Flight. Vol. 6, no. 2. London: Flight. 10 January 1914. pp. 31–33.
• "REP type K". Le Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (in French). Paris: Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace. 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
• "Robert Esnault-Pelterie". L'Aéronautique[Aeronautics] (in French). Vol. 5, no. 55. Paris: Gauther–Villars. December 1923. n.p.