Deperdussin Monocoque 1912 Racer - a photo on Flickriver

Deperdussin Monocoque 1912 Racer

            As the aircraft began to mature as a design, air racing became all the rage across the world.  Not only did it allow pilots to achieve fame (and get significant cash purses), it allowed new designers to enter the field, and experiment with new designs.  Armand Deperdussin, who founded Aeroplanes Deperdussin in 1909, was not a designer himself, but a businessman who had made a fortune importing silk to France.  He hired Louis Bechereau, who was an aircraft designer, to build his aircraft for him.

After a few fits and starts, Deperdussin's company took off (so to speak) with the Deperdussin TT.  Deperdussin himself wanted a sleek air racer to compete in the Bennett Trophy races, so Bechereau came up with an innovative, groundbreaking design: the Monocoque.  Unlike earlier aircraft, which used a boxlike structure covered in fabric, the Monocoque was rounded, made up of two halves of tulipwood and hickory, joined together by glue with a fabric covering.  This made the aircraft very streamlined and aerodynamic, as well as strong.  A spinner was added to the propeller to further decrease drag.  Bechereau may not have known it, but monocoque fuselages were the way of the future.

The Monocoque was indeed what Deperdussin wanted.  It swept the Bennett Trophy races in 1912 and 1913, and set a world speed record of 130 mph--earlier Deperdussins had already set records of 100 and 120 mph.  It might have done the same in 1914, had it not been for the outbreak of World War I.  By that time, Deperdussin had renamed his company the Societe Pour les Appareils Deperdussin (SPAD), but in 1913, he was arrested for fraud.  The company was renamed Societe Pour l'Aviation et ses Derives (SPAD), and would go on to fame during the war for building tough, fast fighters.

This Deperdussin is probably a reproduction, originally constructed in France.  It had been acquired by the Wings and Wheels Museum in Florida, but in 1981, was sold to the San Diego Air and Space Museum.  It is painted as a military version of the Monocoque, which were briefly used at the beginning of World War I as scout aircraft.

Taken on: June 8, 2023

Tags:

Deperdussin

Monocoque

1912Racer

1911Militaire

aircraft

WorldWarI

SanDiegoAirandSpaceMuseum « less

Sets appears in: • Aviation Photography

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