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Type of aircraft From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Caudron C.860 was a single engine, single seat monoplane ordered by the French government as a long distance communications aircraft. First flown in 1938, it was also expected to set speed and altitude records but the outbreak of World War II ended developments.
Caudron C.860 | |
---|---|
Role | Long range communication aircraft |
National origin | France |
Manufacturer | Société des Avions Caudron |
Designer | Marcel Riffard |
First flight | 6-10 September 1938 |
Primary user | Air Ministry |
Number built | 1 |
Developed from | Caudron Simoun and Rafale |
The C.860 was ordered by the French Air Ministry who planned to use it, piloted by André Japy, for rapid long distance communications. Powered by a 9.5 L (580 cu in) Renault 6Q-03 engine, it had a range of up to 8,000 km (5,000 mi; 4,300 nmi) when cruising at 290 km/h (180 mph; 160 kn). It was also expected to set distance and altitude records in Category 1 with a 8.0 L (490 cu in) Renault engine and in Category 2 with a 6.5 L (400 cu in) Renault,[1] but war intervened.
Its wing and empennage were aerodynamically similar to those of the Caudron Simoun, though the single-piece wing was structurally closer to that of the record-setting Rafale racer. The wing was tetragonal in plan, with more sweep on the trailing edge than on the leading edge, though the tips were semi-elliptical. It had an all-wood structure with a single box spar which incorporated an upper flange of gumbo-limbo, a Central and South American wood of particularly high bulk modulus, together with spruce and plywood ribs. The ply skin was finished with a fabric overlay. Its ailerons were carried on auxiliary spars.[1]
The C.860's fuselage was slender, with a maximum width of only 850 mm (33 in) and about one third of it ahead of the wing leading edge. Its 180 kW (240 hp) 9.5 L (580 cu in) air-cooled six-cylinder Renault 6Q-03 inverted in-line engine, supercharged to 2,000 m (6,600 ft), was in the nose with its main and collector fuel tanks behind it over the centre of gravity. Together with four smaller wing tanks, these gave a fuel capacity of 1,500 L (330 imp gal; 400 US gal). The pilot had an enclosed cockpit with his head raised only slightly above the fuselage under a shallow canopy with a horizontal strip of plexiglas for forwards and sideways vision, a solid top and an extended fairing aft. There were also windows in the fuselage sides for downward views.[1]
The fuselage had a wooden frame with canvas covered sides and curved magnesium sheet top and bottom. The empennage of the C.860 was conventional, with a straight-tapered, blunt-tipped horizontal tail carrying separate elevators. The tall vertical tail had a similar shape though, unlike the elevators, the rudder was balanced. The aircraft had a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage with a 2 m (6 ft 7 in) track. Messier oleo strut landing legs were mounted on the wing spar. Legs, mainwheels and the steerable tailwheel, also on an oleo strut, were enclosed in fairings.[1]
By 5 September 1938 the C.860 had been brought, still not quite complete, from the Caudron factory at Issy-les-Moulineaux to the airfield at Guyancourt.[2] The first flight had been made, piloted by Delmotte, by 10 September.[3] Its initial tests had been completed by the end of September, when the C.860 entered the Centre d'Essais de Matériels Aériens (CEMA), the French official testing centre at Villacoublay.[4] These tests temporarily finished at the beginning of January 1939[5] but the C.860 returned to CEMA at the end of the month.[6]
With certification complete, the Air Ministry took the C.860 to Istres to determine the take-off run required with the heavy fuel load needed to achieve the desired long range.[7] A 24.5 hour flight at 290 km/h (180 mph), covering 7,100 km (4,400 mi), consumed 1,340 L (290 imp gal; 350 US gal) of petrol and 80 L (18 imp gal; 21 US gal) of oil. The resulting take-off weight of 2,300 kg (5,100 lb), required a take-off run of 650 m (2,130 ft), well within the Air Ministry's 1,000 m (3,300 ft) specification limit.[1]
Data from Les Ailes 8 June 1939[1]
General characteristics
Performance
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