The Voisin L was a pusher biplane developed for the French Army's 1912 trials[1] where it performed successfully. About 70 were built in France[2] with around 400 manufactured under license in the Russian Empire.[3] The aircraft was the first in a series of military pusher biplanes from Voisin all of which had similar design characteristics.[1]
Design
The Voisin L had equal-span wings with no dihedral. A cruciform tail was attached to the wings with booms. A streamlined nacelle carried a pilot and observer in front with a single rotary engine at the rear.[1] Steel tubing was used throughout the structure making the Voisin-L a robust aircraft for its time-period.[4]
Voisin L floatplane 1915
Land-based versions of the aircraft featured a distinctive quadricycle landing gear. A floatplane version was produced with the quadricycle landing gear replaced with three flat bottomed pontoons.[1]
Voisin-Ls can be identified as they used air-cooled rotary engines and so lacked the bulky radiators seen on later Voisin pushers which were powered by water-cooled Salmson 9, Peugeot 8Aa and Renault 12Fe aero-engines.[5]
Operational history
At the start of World War I, Voisin L aircraft (types 1 and 2) were in service with four French squadrons. The aircraft were used for artillery observation and as daylight bombers.[4] Voisin-Ls were in front line service till 1915 when the French airforce was reorganised with production focused on a smaller number of dedicated types. One of the types selected for mass production was the Voisin III.[6]
In the Russian Empire, Voisin L aircraft were manufactured by Anatra in Odesa[7] and the Duk Factory in Moscow. Both manufacturers also license built Voisin III aircraft.[3][7] Voisin L aircraft remained in front line with the Imperial Russian Air Service into 1916.[8]
Variants
Type 1 or Voisin I - Fitted with the Rhône 9C[1][5]
Type 2 or Voisin II - Fitted with Gnome rotary engines. Some later examples used the seven-cylinder variant of the Gnome Monosoupape.[1][5]
Type 1 and 2 are designations applied retrospectively.[5] Contemporary names for the aircraft included the Voisin model 1912[1] and Voisin 13.5 meter.[9] In all cases Voisin L was the aircraft's factory designation.[1]
^ a b c d e f g hSimons, Graham M (2019). "Hydro avions". Early French Aviation (1905-1930). Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781526758750.
^Davilla, James J; Soltan, Arthur M (2002). French aircraft of the First World War. Flying Machines Press. p. 542. ISBN 9781891268090.
^ a bBlume, August G (2010). The Russian Military Air Fleet in World War I. Vol. 1 - A chronology 1910-1917. United States: Schiffer. pp. 297–298. ISBN 978-0764333514.
^ a bUlanoff, Stanley M (1970). "Bomber and Reconnaissance Aircraft". Illustrated history of World War I in the air. United States: Arco Publishing. p. 135. ISBN 9780668017688.
^ a b c d ePinto, Renato (1981). "Voisin L". Perfiles Historia De La Aviacion [History of aviation] (in Spanish). Vol. 1. Spain: Viscontea. pp. 65–72.
^Sumner, Ian (2015). The Kings of the Air: French Aces and Airmen of the Great War. Pen and Sword. p. 41. ISBN 9781783463381.
^ a bRobinson, Antony (1979). "Wings for the Tzar". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation. Vol. 1. United Kingdom: Marschal Cavendish. p. 57. ISBN 085685574X.
^Kulikov, Victor (2013). "Aces of the 9th AOI". Russian Aces of World War 1. United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing Limited. ISBN 9781780960609.
^Opdycke, Leonard E (1999). French Aeroplanes before the Great War. United States: Schiffer Military History. p. 271. ISBN 0764307525.
^"Naval and Military Aeronautics". The Aeroplane. United Kingdom. 22 January 1914. p. 86.
^Taylor, John W. R. (1969). Combat aircraft of the world: from 1909 to the present. United Kingdom: Putnam. p. 131. LCCN 68-25459.
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