There are plenty of cases of plane designs that were way
ahead of their time in one regard or another. There are very few, though, that
were at the same time innovative and successful.
Designed by Louis Bechereau, the French Deperdussin
Monocoque (for single, whole shell) of 1912 was so advanced for its time, that
one can’t but be puzzled looking a contemporary planes; or even at later
designs. Not only had the trademark “monocoque” fuselage –where the skin bears
the loads-, but was also a monoplane with a carefully cowled engine. Instead of
ailerons it used wing warping for lateral control.
It swept the Chicago 1912 Gordon Bennett taking first and
second place (Vedrines and Prevost respectively). Then –on floats- won the
Schneider Trophy and it did the same at the Reims1913 edition of the Gordon
Bennett again, leaving all other competitors eating dust.
The Deperdussin was also the first plane to break the 100
mph barrier.
The design, as it is sometimes the case with many other
wonderful things, went almost unnoticed and the unwashed aviation designer
masses kept insisting on biplanes, uncowled engines and other contraptions for
decades after. Go figure. Both “monocoque” construction and monoplane design
are a staple of today’s aviation.
I was making this model for a fellow enthusiast and soon we
realized that there was some confusion in the depiction of this specific
machine. It took a very hefty amount of research to get things right with this
little fellow. There are so many misidentifications of the Deperdussin
machines, even in prominent sites and publications, that I was indeed
surprised. Carefully going through era magazines and newspapers started to shed
some light and brought up a number of details used to tell one machine from
another. The model you see here is indeed a representation of the Vedrines
machine. The one that took 2nd, the Prevost machine, is different in
some very noticeable details, among them engine, cabane, headrest, cowling,
spinner and wing platform. Both also differ from previous machines and from the
ones used later in Reims.
Painstaking research even brought up the fact that Vedrines
used to decorate the side of his mount with an image of the Mona Lisa, which I
replicated. A flag is seen on the rudder on some photos, so I made decals for
that too.
Modeling-wise it seemed to be a fairly simple affair, but as
usual it was not. A fuselage was carved in wood in order to get the vac copies
with the Mattel Psychedelic Device. Three changes on the wood plug were
necessary until a practical arrangement was reached, consisting of separating
the nose. Later, in order to mount it –the top is flush with the fuselage but
the bottom is bigger leaving an opening to vent the engine cooling air- a
circle was made on styrene sheet, cut at 1/3 of its diameter and these parts affixed
to fuselage and cowl (see images). The cowl also sports some circular vents. All
flying surfaces as customary were made of styrene sheet. Control horns were
fashioned from a discarded aluminum lid. After-market (although in this case
there was no “market” before) white metal engine and prop were utilized. An
interior was also created and decals represented the instruments. For the
cabane struts brass material was used. Rigging involved the usual wing wires
and the control cables for the tail surfaces.
Once painting in the light cigar hue was completed the parts
were put together allowing the engine to be inserted between the cowl and
fuselage firewall. Rigging and decaling ensued and the “modern” shape of this
remarkable racer could be truly appreciated.
In those times, France was the clear leader on the aviation
field. No wonder F.A.I. stands for Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
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