Galvin floatplane

Hi Kazziga,


the information in the site is enough,if you have the two books,which mention
at top of the site,you will find no more Info is available.
 
You're welcome Kazziga,


and believe me,no more info about this aircraft is available.
 
From 'French Aircraft of the First World War' by Dr James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan:
Galvin Floatplane Fighter

Photograps taken during the First World War reveal that a floatplane with an unusual configuration was built in France.
The single float appears to have been of conventional size and shape. The tail section was attached directly to the float by what appears to have been a single strut. A crescent-shaped rudder was mounted at the end of the tail section, and the bottom portion of the fin was attached to the end of the float. The forward fuselage was completely separate from the tail and housed the pilot and a 160-hp Gnome rotary engine. There was a huge nose cone which had the same diameter as the forward fuselage and was constructed of a metal alloy. Two N-shaped struts attached the forward fuselage to the central float. There was a shoulder-mounted top wing on the forward fuselage, while the bottom wing was suspende between the fuselage and the float. Finally, there were two crescent-shaped floats attached to the ends of the lower wing.
Little information is available concerning this unusual design. It was intended to be used as a fighter, probably to act as an escort for flying boats. It is believed that the Galvin floatplane was flight-tested in 1919.

Span 8.00 m
Length 7.20 m
Height 2.30 m
Wing area 18.59 sq. m
Empty weight 520 kg
Loaded weight 800 kg
Max speed 200 km/h at sea level
Endurance 2 hours
One built
The 3-view shown on flyingmachines.ru is from Davilla and Soltan's book.
The other images are new to me.
 
Monsieur Leonard E. Opdycke, author of "French Aeroplanes Before The Great War" gives the following information:
"Little is known of the aeronautical work of Clement Galvin of Lyon,who nevertheless

designed one of the most advanced, if not successful, seaplanes of his time. His first

design was a small biplane with a 12 hp Anzani: tested in 1909, it did not fly. His

second was a monoplane mentioned briefly in the late fall of 1911.The third was the

seaplane tested and probably not flown on the Saone River in October-November

1913. It had a highly-streamlined fuselage of circular section with a blunt round nose:

the engine was mounted as on the Gallaudet seaplanes in the fuselage behind the

wings, with the propeller turning amidships on a ring. The lower wing was set below

the fuselage, the upper at shoulder height; the machine rested on a wide central float

and 2 small tip floats, and the bottom of the fin was attached to the tail of the main

float. The pilot sat on top, level with the leading edge of the top wings. A blurry photo

shows it taxiing at high speed, the ring removed from the propeller, leaving a gap

more than 2' long; it has French colors on the rudder."

About flight testing of this aircraft he obviously had a different opinion.
 
We're now waiting for a reliable centenarian's eyewitness report to settle the matter.
 
... as I once read : "The worst sources are contemporary witnesses" ;)

Was it just taxiing or did it really lift off, at least some inches ? That is taxied
seemes to be out of question ...
What we need, is the CCTV footage ;D
 
How about a misprint where a 3 was read as a 9, or vice versa?
A 160-hp Gnome rotary points to 1919, rather than 1913.
 
Arjen said:
How about a misprint where a 3 was read as a 9, or vice versa?
A 160-hp Gnome rotary points to 1919, rather than 1913.


All sources point to 1919 anyway, not 1913.


Galvin's hydroplane patents are from 1917 and 1919.


Before that he did only hydroplanes under his name or as Dumont-Galvin.
 

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