| Villiers XXIV | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | night fighter |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Ateliers d'Aviation François Villiers |
| First flight | March 1928 |
| Number built | 1 |
The Villiers XXIV or Villiers 24 CAN2 was a French army night fighter most notable as the first French military aircraft to be fitted with leading edge slats.
Though the ability of retractable leading edge slots to enable wings to reach high angles of attack without stalling and hence allow low flying speeds without a high speed drag penalty was discussed at the 1921 Paris Salon by Frederick Handley Page, [1] slats were not used by French military aircraft before the 1928 Villiers XXIV. [2] This night fighter (its military CAN2 designation stood for chasse, armée, nuit or army night fighter) [2] used a combination of slats and flaps, together with ailerons which could be lowered together as well as conventionally operated differentially. Flight tests showed that with the slats open at maximum flap angles the minimum flight speed decreased by 30%. [2] [3]
The Villiers XXIV was a single bay sesquiplane with an upper wingspan 1.4 times that of the lower and about twice as broad. Their sections were different, with R.A.F.31 airfoil on the upper wings and Göttingen 436 on the lower. [4] In plan both wings were strictly rectangular and fabric covered but they had different structures, the upper with wooden box spars and the lower with aluminium spars. [5] They were braced together by a single interplane strut on each side; these had airfoil sections and widened considerably at the foot and more so at the top. The centre section of the upper wing was braced to the upper fuselage with four outward-leaning cabane struts. [4]
Only the upper wing carried control surfaces, with a single leading edge slat over the whole span. Apart from a small centre section with a large cut-out to improve the visibility from the pilot's cockpit, the whole of the trailing edge was filled by flaps inboard and ailerons outboard. When the slats were opened by the pilot, ailerons and flaps were depressed but retained their normal functions with unchanged angular defection ranges. [3]
The Villier XXIV's fuselage was built around six longerons, positioned by glued formers, and plywood covered behind the nose where its 340 kW (450 hp) Lorraine 12Eb Courlis water-cooled W-12 engine was under an aluminium cowling which followed the outlines of the three cylinder banks. [4] The engine was cooled by a retractable, ventral Lamblin radiator between the undercarriage legs. [2] [4] There was a second open cockpit for the gunner, equipped with a pair of machine guns on a flexible mounting. The pilot controlled a pair of fixed, forward firing synchronised 7.7 mm (0.303 in) guns. [2]
The tail unit was conventional, with a broad chord, clipped triangular tailplane, mounted on top of the fuselage at an angle which could be adjusted in flight and fitted with separate, round edged, balanced elevators. The triangular fin and its full, rounded unbalanced rudder were also broad. Both fin and rudder were ply skinned and their control surfaces fabric covered. The rudder extended down to the keel and operated in a gap between the elevators. The night fighter had fixed conventional tailskid landing gear with mainwheels on a single 2 m (6 ft 7 in) track axle sprung to a pair of faired-in V-struts from the lower fuselage, assisted by a steel sprung tailskid. [3] [5]
The Villiers XXIV first flew in March 1928 [2] and was soon undergoing tests at the military testing ground at Villacoublay, flown by Descamps. [5] The slats were particularly closely examined. Fully loaded, the lowest flying speed was 101 km/h (63 mph) with slats shut, reduced to 70 km/h (43 mph) with them open. [2] A planned second machine was intended to have automatic, aerodynamically opened slats in place of the pilot operated ones on the first prototype. [3] However, the CAN2 programme was dropped by the air force and development of the Villiers XXIV abandoned, so this second prototype was never built. [2]
Data from NACA (November 1928) [3] unless indicated otherwise
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
and
The Slingsby Type 26 Kite 2 was a post World War II development of the Slingsby Kite, a single seat medium performance sailplane. It sold in small numbers.
The Skyeton K-10 Swift is a two-seat, single-engine light sports or ultralight aircraft designed in Ukraine.
The ICP Vimana is a single engine, two seat, high wing, light aircraft with STOL capability. Designed and built in Italy by ICP srl, it was introduced in 2006.
The Bernard H 110 was a single engine, single seat monoplane floatplane fighter designed for a French Navy competition. It flew in 1935 but had only made four test flights when the Bernard company was declared bankrupt, preventing further development.
The Legrand-Simon LS.60 is a single-engine, high-wing monoplane seating two side-by-side. It was built in France in the early 1960s in response to a government competition for a club trainer. It won the competition but nevertheless failed to go into production; only the prototype, which still flies, was completed.
The Ciani EC 38/56 Urendo, or SSVV EC 38/56 Urendo is an Italian tandem-seat training glider from the 1950s. Four were built, one winning the Italian National Championships in 1959. Another, restored, still flies.
The Ciani EC.37/53 Spillo or SSVV EC.37/53 Spillo was a single seat competition glider designed and built in Italy in the 1950s. It had the highest aspect ratio wing of any wooden glider. Only one was built.
The Aviator Shershen' is a Russian two seat biplane, sold in kit form. It first flew in 2005 and several variants have been produced, with a choice of engines.
The Teichfuss Sparviero was an Italian single seat aerobatic glider, designed by Luigi Teichfuss and flown in 1938.
The Zlín Šohaj series of club gliders began as a post World War II development of the DFS Olympia Meise. A large number were built in the 1940s and '50s.
The Civil Aviation Department Kartik was an Indian single seat competition glider first flown in 1963. It was built in small numbers and remained under development until 1975.
The Les Mureaux 3 C.2 and Les Mureaux 4 C.2 were French two seat, parasol winged fighters, flown in 1927-8, which differed only in their engines. They were developed into near identical army co-operation types, the ANF Les Mureaux 130 A.2 and ANF Les Mureaux 131 A.2, in 1929-31.
The Villiers 26 was a French naval seaplane which used Handley Page slats to provide the wide speed range required for escort and patrol duties. It was tested, behaved satisfactorily but received no production order.
The Villiers V, Villiers 5 or Villiers 5CN2 was a French night fighter built in the mid-1920s. It did not go into production.
The Villiers IV or Villiers 4 was a French two seat naval floatplane. Two were built, the first with twin floats and the second with one. The first was short-lived but the second set several world and national records; it later became the Villiers XI.
The Villiers 31 or Villiers 310 was a French eight passenger airliner of advanced construction. Owing to Villiers' financial failure, it was not developed.
The Schmeidler SN.2 was a low power, single seat aircraft designed in Germany in the 1930s to test the ability of trailing edge wing extensions to lower minimum flight speeds without a high speed drag penalty.
The Bréguet 25 or XXV was a French two seat fighter from 1925. It was heavily armed, carrying seven machine guns.
The G.A.C. 102 Aristocrat or General 102 Aristocrat is a single-engined cabin monoplane built in the US just before the Great Depression. It proved popular, with over forty built; an early example was taken on an aerial survey of Antarctica. One survives.
The Weber-Landholf-Münch WLM-1 is a 1940s Swiss high performance sailplane designed to meet a Swiss Air Force (SAF) requirement for a training glider that could initiate potential fighter pilots. To this end it is fast, aerobatic and equipped with standard military instrumentation. Only three were built.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villiers 24 . |
