Ravaud Aero-Hydroplane

W

weirc

ACCESS: Confidential
Senior Member
Joined
15 January 2008
Messages
64
Reaction score
18
Ravaud's craft was built in 1910 by S. E. Saunders Ltd and launched in January 1911.
Length approx 20 feet.
Information taken from
( from Sea to Air, A E Tagg, R L Wheeler )
( Aeromarine Origins, H F King )
And Flight Archive.

Colin
 

Attachments

  • Ravaud 1.png
    Ravaud 1.png
    456.3 KB · Views: 321
  • Ravaud 2.png
    Ravaud 2.png
    500.7 KB · Views: 296
  • Ravaud 3.png
    Ravaud 3.png
    727.6 KB · Views: 264
  • Ravaud Drawing.png
    Ravaud Drawing.png
    283.6 KB · Views: 231
Very interesting, thanks! I don't think it qualifies for the "Early Aircraft Projects" section though. "Naval projects", possibly?
 
Yes, I think the same debate happened at the time of it's construction........ is it a boat, is it an aeroplane?

Colin
 
weirc said:
Yes, I think the same debate happened at the time of it's construction........ is it a boat, is it an aeroplane?
Click to expand...

I'd say a hovercraft could qualify in the "aircraft" category because it does lift off a bit. So does an ekranoplane.
But those hydroplanes (which were quite popular until the late 1920s) were really only the old-time equivalent of a jet-ski, I think. Their pontoons are always in contact with the water, aren't they?
 
I believe that the craft was intended to leave the water but never did, one of the books suggests that it was going to be re-engined with a 100hp Rhone engine instead of the 50hp Rhone as installed but does't confirm this.

I just find it an aesthetically pleasing plane/boat?

Colin
 
weirc said:
I believe that the craft was intended to leave the water but never did
Click to expand...

If it was strictly a "hydroplane" (as opposed to "hydroaeroplane") I'm not certain it was meant to do more than skim the water very fast...
Quite a few airplane manufacturers of the 1910s and 1920s also produced such machines on the side, especially in Europe.
Now the fact that it was called an "Aero-Hydroplane" seems to imply that it could do more than that. Possibly so...

weirc said:
I just find it an aesthetically pleasing plane/boat?
Click to expand...

Sure is! ;)
 
Ravaud also entered an aeroscaphe in the 1909 Monaco Air Race
seven years ago I was able to find some ten photos and drawings of this aircraft, but now they are lost somewhere in my folders.

Anyway, there are still some photos on the net
and
http://www.zwischengas.com/faksimile/AR-Zeitung-Nr-38-1909-vom-11-Dez-1909-Seite-541/b646a3c9-babf-45b3-bb89-fb0cb8ca237c
I hope more will surface in the next day here

Btw I also had a drawing made by Lubomir Koutny of the 1920 Ravaud.
 

Attachments

  • aeroscaphe.jpg
    aeroscaphe.jpg
    50.9 KB · Views: 162
Thanks for this find.

BTW, the proper spelling in French is "Aéroscaphe", with acute accent on the é. If you google up "Ravaud Aéroscaphe 1909", there are plenty hits, including Bibliothèque Nationale de France's beautiful photo at http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9019022z.r=
 

Attachments

  • Ravaud Aéroscaphe 1909 Monaco.jpg
    Ravaud Aéroscaphe 1909 Monaco.jpg
    180.2 KB · Views: 44
Very nice pic, dan_inbox, thanks!

Given the shape of the float, that contraption had very little chance to take off at all...
I belive it's only after Curtiss made advances in shaping floats that practical seaplanes became possible.
 
Thanks, Dan
I remember that there were also some pics depicting the engine and the steering mechanism in a close-up walk around.
but I've lost trace of them.
In a period publication or two there were also some 3-views, but not very realistic.
 
Here is another photo of the aeroscaphe:
 

Attachments

  • Meeting Monaco - Mars 1909 - L’Aéroscaphe de Ravaud à Monaco - Branger 44984.jpg
    Meeting Monaco - Mars 1909 - L’Aéroscaphe de Ravaud à Monaco - Branger 44984.jpg
    356.1 KB · Views: 30

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom