Weymann W-100

Last updated
W-100
Role Observation and reconnaissance aircraft
National origin France
Manufacturer Société des Avions C.T. Weymann
First flight Late June – early July 1933
Number built 1

The Weymann W-100, Weymann CTW-100 or Weymann W-100 RBL was a French three seat observation aircraft with a position for the observer within its partially glazed fuselage. Only one was built.

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.

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.

Contents

Design and development

Observation aircraft from World War I and into the 1920s generally had two crew, the pilot and a defensive gunner who was also the observer. Though there had been attempts to include three positions, separating the role of gunner and observer, the extra weight of the more powerful engine required proved too great a penalty. By the mid-1930s engine technology had improved enough, in Weymann's view, to make a three-seat aircraft fast enough. The W-100 was the result of this analysis. [1]

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

It was a two bay biplane with constant chord, unswept, unequal span wings with rounded tips. The wings were entirely wooden, with multiple spars and stressed plywood skin. The upper wing was significantly longer, broader and thicker than the lower and was in three parts, with a rectangular central portion that was mounted over the fuselage on two outward-leaning streamlined steel struts from the upper fuselage on each side. This section had no dihedral. The lower wings were mounted on the lower fuselage and braced to the upper wings with outward leaning N-form interplane struts; they had the same dihedral as the outer upper panels. Crossed wire bracing completed the strongly staggered structure. Servo-tabbed ailerons on upper and lower wings were linked with streamlined steel tubes. [1]

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.

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.

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).

The W-100's fuselage frame was constructed from steel tube Warren girders, resulting in an essentially rectangular section structure which was largely fabric covered. There was a 429 kW (575 hp) nine cylinder Hispano-Suiza 9Va radial engine (a licence-built Wright R-1820) in the nose under a long-chord cowling. The pilot's open cockpit was at the wing trailing edge, with the gunner's cockpit, fitted with a machine gun on a flexible mount, immediately behind. A triangular, upward hinged door in the starboard side below the gunner's cockpit gave access to the observer's position in the deepened forward fuselage between the pilot's cockpit and the engine. It had glazed panels in its top and bottom and entirely glazed sides, giving the observer clear views in all directions. [1]

Aircraft fabric covering

Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures, the de Havilland Mosquito being an example of this technique, and on the pioneering all-wood monocoque fuselages of certain World War I German aircraft like the LFG Roland C.II, in its wrapped Wickelrumpf plywood strip and fabric covering.

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.

Cockpit area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft

A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft.

At the rear the rectangular tailplane was built into the upper fuselage and carried larger area, separate, balanced elevators. The round edged fin was wire braced to the tailplane and carried a deep, round-topped rudder, also balanced. [1]

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.

Balanced rudder

Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevators and ailerons; all three aircraft control surfaces may also be mass balanced, chiefly to avoid aerodynamic flutter.

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.

The W-100 had a fixed, wide 3.0 m (120 in) track undercarriage, with each mainwheel on a V-form axle and drag strut hinged from the lower fuselage. A faired Messier oleo strut was attached to the upper fuselage. There was a small, steerable tailwheel. [1]

Landing gear aircraft part which supports the aircraft while not in the air

Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft and may be used for either takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally both. It was also formerly called alighting gear by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin Company.

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.

The Weymann W-100 first flew between late June and early July 1933, piloted by Barbot, though the location is not recorded. [2] By August it had been further tested at Villacoublay, had returned to the factory by mid-August [3] and was back at Villacoublay in September. [4] There seem to be no further references to the W-100 in the French journals after this date.

Specifications

Data from Les Ailes February 1934 [1]

General characteristics

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 240 km/h (149 mph; 130 kn) at ground level
  • Cruise speed: 225 km/h (140 mph; 121 kn) at 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
  • Endurance: 5 hr
  • Service ceiling: 8,000 m (26,000 ft)

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Frachet, André (1 February 1934). "Le triplace Weymann W-100 RBL". Les Ailes (659): 3.
  2. ↑ "Notules – Le triplace Weymann". Les Ailes (629): 4. 6 July 1933.
  3. ↑ "A Villacoublay". Les Ailes (636): 14. 24 August 1933.
  4. ↑ "A Villacoublay". Les Ailes (641): 14. 28 September 1933.


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