Van Lith Aircraft

[hesham]

Hi,

Mr. Jean Van Lith was amateur in Aviation,and he was a French homebuilt of airplanes,
almost in 1937 he began his career about constructed some light aircraft;

Type-I was a derivative of Mignet HM.8 with 50 hp Anzani engine,but the motor was failure
Type-II was a light airplane,powered at first by one 25 hp Poinsard later by one 34 hp
A.B.C. Scorpion engine
Type-III -----?
Type-IV was a single seat parasol wing light monoplane,powered at first by one 34 hp
A.B.C. Scorpion later by one 65 hp Continental engine
Type-V -----?
Type-VI was a two-three seat high-wing cabin monoplane,powered by one 135 hp Lycoming
O-290-3 engine
Type-VII was a twin engined racer airplane Project,no more details are available
Type-VIII was a single seat low-wing light monoplane,powered by one 68 hp Limbach
SL 1700E engine
Type-IX was a single seat high-wing light monoplane,derivative of Type-II,powered by one
50 hp Porsche engine

Van Lith VI - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[walter]

Hi Hesham
Thank you for the very interesting list!
Some additional info on the Type IX that may be of interest. Type IX was built as cabin monoplane and first registered (to Mr. Van Lith) on 30.12.1986. Orignal (test) registration F-WYSZ was soon changed to F-PYSZ. The registration was cancelled on 29.6.1990 after the aircraft had been damaged in an accident.
She was rebuilt by Mr. Richard Monmoulinex as Type IXBIS and became a parasol sing type (see photo). First registered on 6.9.1994 (to Mr. Monmoulinex). The registration was cancelled on 4.8.2008 when she was transferred to the Ultralight category.

 

[hesham]

Thank you my dear Walter.

 

[hesham]

From Ailes 6/1946,

I found this strange airplane,I don't know if it was a Project or not ?,maybe Type-III.

 

[cluttonfred]

This article indicates that the design was presented at an aviation conference and the goal was to create a light aircraft suited to power by a small (50-70 hp) automobile engine. The concept was a side-by-side two-seater with a mid-mounted engine driving a nose-mounted propeller via a shaft that passed between the pilot and passenger. The author comments at the end, "Let's hope he'll be able to build it soon," so it seems like a serious design but not necessarily a project.

 

[hesham]

My dear Cluttenfred,

if you see my list,the Type-II was appeared in 1937 and Type-IV was appeared in 1946,
if we analysis the situation and as it clears,it was not among the known airplanes,so I
suggest it was Type-III or Type-V,and in this case,it was probably a Project ?.

 

[hesham]

From Ailes 4/1952,

I think we get all aircraft and Projects to this designer,except Type-I,he created a circle-wing
single seat monoplane Project of 1952,all details are here,and I can say; maybe it was Type-V.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

the Type-I was a derivative of Mignet HM.8 with 50 hp Anzani engine,but the motor was failure.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

here is a 3-view to Type-VI;

Les Ailes : journal hebdomadaire de la locomotion aérienne / directeur, rédacteur en chef, Georges Houard | 1958-11-08 | Gallica

 

[hesham]

From Ailes 14/91/962,

here is a Van Lith Type-VII Project.

 

[Maveric]

an other picture

 

[hesham]

an other picture

From Aviation magazine 1962,Type-VII.

 

[Stargazer]

After reading the articles from Les Ailes, it appears very clearly that the two projects shown are respectively the ones missing from the list. Although the article describing the round-wing project was published in April 1952, it actually refers to a much earlier design:

Being interested for a long time in the "flying wing", I had built, around 1936, a rubber-band-propelled round-wing model. After my second — conventional — aircraft was finished, I started construction of the full-size "round-wing". The war came and put an end to it all.

From this we can infer that the round-wing type must have been the Van Lith III.

---

Next is the article about the airplane using an automobile engine. It was published in June 1946, and refers to a design that is extremely recent:

(...) let us mention an interesting study that Jean Van Lith presented at the latest meet, regarding the use of automobile engines in light aviation.

We know that the Van Lith IV was started after the war and flew in 1946. Since the above is a 1946 project, it comes right after it, and therefore it can only have been the Van Lith V.