Minimalism has a long and strong tradition in aviation history.
The “less is more” paradigm
has always found champions that dared to go where no one had gone before. And
because when you travel the best thing to do is to travel light, they got rid
of whatever they could, minimizing weight, drag, structural complexity and
cost.
I love these machines and the
people that created and flew them; they represent for me the epitome of “think
different”.
And here we have a model that
depicts one of Rene Arnoux’s creations: “Le Stablavion”, something like a tailless
plane in pusher configuration with a somewhat flat wing airfoil.
Considering that this was
1912, and that this and other similar machines built by the same creator
actually flew, I think Rene Arnoux deserves a not always recognized prominent
place as a pioneer of this (then and now) innovative configuration.
For the curious and adventurous
modeler here is a link to a site with very good information:
The model as you can see is
simple enough to tempt anyone to also go “beyond” and experience the delights and
challenges of scratch building.
If you are one of those that
like racers, give a look to the Arnoux “Simplex”, a later and much evolved
design. You won’t be disappointed.
*I would very much like to
recognize the help that Jim Schubert and other wonderful members of the Wings
of Peace forum provided for this and other projects. Sincere thanks to all of
them
The airfoil was indeed "flat", no curves, just angles surfaces:
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