Weymann-Lepère WEL-80

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WEL-80 R.2
Weymann Wel 80 R2 Annuaire de L'Aeronautique 1931.jpg
Role Reconnaissance aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Société des Avions C.T. Weymann
Designer Lepère
First flight 1931
Number built 2

The Weymann-Lepère WEL-80 R.2 was a French two seat reconnaissance aircraft built to compete for a 1928 government contract. It was not successful and did not enter production.

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 French R.2 specification of 1928 called for an all-metal, two seat reconnaissance aircraft, fast and with a rapid climb rate and large radius of action. It led to prototypes from eight manufacturers, the Amiot 130, Breguet 33, Latécoère 490, Les Mureaux 111, Nieuport-Delage Ni-D 580, Potez 37, Wibault 260 and the Weymann WEL-80 R.2. One of the terms of the specification required the manufacturers to use a Hispano-Suiza 12Nb water-cooled V-12 engine. [1] [2]

Amiot 130

The SECM-Amiot 130 R.2 was a contender for a French government contract for a long range, two seat reconnaissance aircraft, issued in 1928. There were eight prototypes in the 1931–32 contest and the Amiot 130 was not selected for production.

Latécoère 490

The Latécoère 490 was a two-seat, single-engined parasol winged aircraft, designed to a French photographic reconnaissance specification of 1928. Only two prototypes were built.

ANF Les Mureaux 113

The ANF Les Mureaux 110 and its derivatives were a family of French reconnaissance aircraft developed in the 1930s. They were all-metal, parasol-wing monoplanes that seated the pilot and observer in tandem open cockpits. The aircraft were widely used in the Battle of France, but were all scrapped soon thereafter.

The Weymann WEL-80 was an unequal span single bay biplane. It had strong stagger, no dihedral and a lower wing which was smaller not only in span (14%) but also in chord (20%) and so in area (40%). The wings were similar in plan, rectangular out to angled, blunted tips, though with differently shaped cut-outs for better upward and downward views from the cockpit. [3] They had all-dural structures with two I-section spars and were fabric covered. [1] There were ailerons on both upper and lower wings which occupied most of each trailing edge and were linked together by external rods. Upper and lower wings were braced by outward leaning duralumin N-form interplane struts; the lower wing was mounted on the lower fuselage and the upper one joined to the upper fuselage with outward leaning, parallel pairs of cabane struts on each side. Wire bracing completed the structure. [3]

Stagger (aeronautics)

In aviation, stagger is the relative horizontal fore-aft positioning of stacked wings in a biplane, triplane, or multiplane.

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.

Chord (aeronautics) imaginary straight line joining the leading and trailing edges of an aerofoil

In aeronautics, a chord is the imaginary straight line joining the leading and trailing edges of an aerofoil. The chord length is the distance between the trailing edge and the point on the leading edge where the chord intersects the leading edge.

The V-12 Hispano engine was mounted in the nose behind a large radiator fitted with vanes to control the engine temperature. The engine mounting and the rest of the fuselage structure was built from molybdenum-chrome steel tubes. Behind the engine, which had a metal cowling, the outer fuselage form was set by wooden frames and stringers, then covered in fabric. The two open cockpits were in tandem, with the pilot just aft of the upper wing and the observer close behind. His position was equipped for wireless and photography as well as with a pair of flexibly mounted machine guns. The pilot controlled two more fixed guns which fired through the propeller disc. At the rear the empennage was conventional, with a narrow chord, rectangular tailplane mounting broader, blunt ended, balanced, separate elevators. Its much larger, rounded vertical tail had a broad-chord fin and generous, balanced rudder which extended to the keel. Fin and tailplane were braced together with twin parallel wires on each side. [1] [3]

Radiator (engine cooling) heat-exchanging component of liquid cooled engines

Radiators are heat exchangers used for cooling internal combustion engines, mainly in automobiles but also in piston-engined aircraft, railway locomotives, motorcycles, stationary generating plant or any similar use of such an engine.

Aircraft fairing

An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.

Machine gun fully automatic mounted or portable firearm

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm designed to fire rifle cartridges in rapid succession from an ammunition belt or magazine for the purpose of suppressive fire. Not all fully automatic firearms are machine guns. Submachine guns, rifles, assault rifles, battle rifles, shotguns, pistols or cannons may be capable of fully automatic fire, but are not designed for sustained fire. As a class of military rapid-fire guns, machine guns are fully automatic weapons designed to be used as support weapons and generally used when attached to a mount- or fired from the ground on a bipod or tripod. Many machine guns also use belt feeding and open bolt operation, features not normally found on rifles.

The 80 R.2 had a conventional fixed, tailwheel undercarriage. Its wheels were independently mounted, with axles at the vertices of V-struts hinged to the central lower fuselage and oleo strut shock absorbers from the axles to the upper fuselage. The wheels, 3.0 m (9 ft 10 in) apart, were fitted with brakes and fairings. Its tailwheel was steerable. [3]

Oleo strut

An oleo strut is a pneumatic air–oil hydraulic shock absorber used on the landing gear of most large aircraft and many smaller ones. This design cushions the impacts of landing and damps out vertical oscillations.

Development

The Weymann WEL-80 first flew in January 1931. [4] The S.T.I.Aé Concours des avions de grande reconnaissance (Long range reconnaissance aircraft competition) at Villacoublay began in April 1931 [2] and, unusually, lasted about a year. The contest winner was the ANF Les Mureaux 111. [5]

A second Weymann 80 was built with wings that had wooden structures and were plywood covered. Weymann argued that construction in wood was simpler, cheaper and more familiar to workers from the civil aircraft industry and did not degrade performance. This version had performance figures better than those specified for the all-metal aircraft of the Concours. [3]

The design first flew in December 1932 [6] and was under test at Villacoublay the following month. [7]

Specifications

Data from Les Ailes January 1932 [3]

General characteristics

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 270 km/h (168 mph; 146 kn) at sea level
  • Range: 1,000 km (621 mi; 540 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 8,500 m (27,900 ft) practical
  • Time to altitude: 26 min to 7,000 m (23,000 ft)
  • Take-off distance: 100 m (330 ft)
  • Landing distance: 100 m (330 ft)

Armament

  • Two fixed forward firing machine guns and two paired and flexibly mounted in observer's cockpit

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Le concours des biplaces de grande reconnaissance". L'Aéronautique. 147: 275, 281–2. August 1931.
  2. 1 2 "Le concours des avions de grande reconnaissance". L'Aérophile. 39 (V): 145. 15 May 1931.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frachet, André (14 January 1932). "L'avion Weymann 80 R.2". Les Ailes (552): 3.
  4. ↑ Bruno Parmentier (21 April 2014). "Weymann WEL-80" . Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "Concours des avions de grande reconnaissance". Le Petit Parisen. 14 April 1932. p. 3. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Prototypes". Les Ailes (549): 1. 24 December 1931.
  7. ↑ "A Villacoublay". Les Ailes (553): 3. 21 January 1932.
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