There are plenty of cases of
plane designs that were way ahead of their time in one regard or another. There
are very few, though, that were at the same time innovative and successful.
Designed by Louis
Bechereau, the French Deperdussin Monocoque (for single, whole shell) of 1912
was so advanced for its time, that one can’t but be puzzled looking a
contemporary planes; or even at later designs. Not only had the trademark
“monocoque” fuselage –where the skin bears the loads-, but was also a
monoplane with a carefully cowled engine. Instead of ailerons it used wing
warping for lateral control. It swept the Chicago 1912 Gordon Bennett taking
first and second place (Vedrines and Prevost respectively). Then –on floats-
won the Schneider Trophy and it did the same at the Reims1913 edition of the
Gordon Bennett again, leaving all other competitors eating dust.
The Deperdussin was
also the first plane to break the 100 mph barrier.
The design, as it is sometimes the case with many other wonderful
things, went almost unnoticed and the unwashed aviation designer masses kept
insisting on biplanes, uncowled engines and other contraptions for decades
after. Go figure. Both “monocoque” construction and monoplane design are a
staple of today’s aviation.
Click on
images below to see larger images
I was making
this model for a fellow enthusiast and soon we realized that there was
some confusion in the depiction of this specific machine. It took a very
hefty amount of research to get things right with this little fellow.
There are so many misidentifications of the Deperdussin machines, even in
prominent sites and publications, that I was indeed surprised. Carefully
going through era magazines and newspapers started to shed some light and
brought up a number of details used to tell one machine from another. The
model you see here is indeed a representation of the Vedrines machine. The
one that took second, the Prevost machine, is different in some very
noticeable details, among them engine, cabane, headrest, cowling, spinner
and wing platform. Both also differ from previous machines and from the
ones used later in Reims.
Painstaking research even brought up the fact that Vedrines used to
decorate the side of his mount with an image of the Mona Lisa, which I
replicated. A flag is seen on the rudder on some photos, so I made decals
for that too.
Modeling-wise it seemed to be a fairly simple affair, but as usual it was
not. A fuselage was carved in wood in order to get the vac copies with the
Mattel Psychedelic Device. Three changes on the wood plug were necessary
until a practical arrangement was reached, consisting of separating the
nose. Later, in order to mount it –the top is flush with the fuselage
but the bottom is bigger leaving an opening to vent the engine cooling
air- a circle was made on styrene sheet, cut at 1/3 of its diameter and
these parts affixed to fuselage and cowl (see images). The cowl also
sports some circular vents. All flying surfaces as customary were made of
styrene sheet. Control horns were fashioned from a discarded aluminum lid.
After-market (although in this case there was no “market” before)
white metal engine and prop were utilized. An interior was also created
and decals represented the instruments. For the cabane struts brass
material was used. Rigging involved the usual wing wires and the control
cables for the tail surfaces.
Once
painting in the light cigar hue was completed the parts were put together
allowing the engine to be inserted between the cowl and fuselage firewall.
Rigging and decaling ensued and the “modern” shape of this remarkable racer
could be truly appreciated.
In those times, France was the clear leader on the aviation field. No wonder
F.A.I. stands for Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Gabriel Stern
Click on
images below to see larger images
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