Levavasseur Fighter Project of 1916 with 360 km/h Speed

[hesham]

from Tu Magazine;

Mr. Léon Levavasseur was a pioneer of French aviation,he built many airplanes and gliders,
and in 1916,he designed a single seat fighter Project,intended to reach a 360 km/h speed,
it had a blind fuselage canopy,trolley main landing gear and used a skids for landing.

This machine had a 160 hp engine and a wing square of 10 m2,with a monoplane configuration
but never materialized.

 

[iverson]

I'm afraid that the only source that I have on Levasseur, Les Avions de Pierre Levasseur by Michel Ledet and Lucien Morareau (Lela Presse, 2004), does not mention such an aircraft.

The book says only that, during the war, the company produced 1500 propellers of its own design per month and 100 aircraft per month, none of which were of its own design. Instead, it built FBA components, SPADs, Breguet XIVs, and prototypes for other designers.

Among the latter were four examples of the S.A.B fighter (designed by Bernard, Bechareau, Birkigt, and Bleriot) between November 1918 and 1919, at which point S.A.B liquidated. But the S.A.B was a biplane powered by a 300hp Hispano-Suiza V-8 that attained 210 km/h, not a 1916-vintage monplane.

French Aircraft of the First World War (Davilla and Soltan) adds that Levasseur assisted a naval yard in converting a WW1 LVG fuselage into a amphibious flying boat. But that was in 1920 and was also a biplane.

 

[hesham]

Excuse me Iverson,

what was the relationship between Levavasseur and Levasseur ?,they were two designers,
please see;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Levavasseur
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Levasseur_(aircraft_builder)

 

[iverson]

I might add that 360 km/h (~223 mph) would be an extraordinary performance for 1916, especially on only 160 hp.

The only "160-hp" engine that springs to mind is the Gnome 9N Monosoupape rotary. I'm not sure if it was available or in the offing in 1916, though I suppose that it could have been.

 

[iverson]

My mistake. Misread.

I have no sources that report anything for Levavasseur between the Antoinette military monoplane (the Monobloc) of 1911, which had 60-hp and was too heavy to fly, and the safety airplane of 1918, for which he won a prize.

 

[hesham]

It was his dream,and don't forget the configuration,it was also an influential factor
for high speed.