Engineering:REP Type K
| Type K | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| General information | |
| Type | Sport aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Robert Esnault-Pelterie |
| Designer | |
| History | |
| First flight | 1913 |
| Developed from | REP Type B |
The REP Type K was a sport aircraft designed and produced in France by Robert Esnault-Pelterie.[1] beginning in 1913.[2] Unlike his first designs, it was of conventional configuration, one of a family of related aircraft he produced around this time.[3] A military version was produced in 1914.[2][4]
Design
The two-seat Type K was very similar to other REP designs of the same period.[5] It was a conventional, shoulder-wing monoplane which seated the pilot and a single passenger in tandem in an open cockpit.[6] It had conventional tailskid undercarriage and was powered by a piston engine in the nose driving a tractor propeller.[6] Lateral control was via wing-warping and the aircraft featured a joystick for pitch and roll control. and a footbar for its rudder.[5] Unusually for the day, the fuselage and tail structure was of steel tube.[5] Some examples had a triangular fin, others had a comma-shaped fin.[2]
Operational history
A Type K was exhibited at the 1913 Paris Aero Show.[2][5]
These aircraft saw brief service with the French Army in the months before World War I.[6] It proved ineffective in its role as a reconnaissance aircraft because its large wings obstructed the view of the ground.[6] The Type Ks were quickly withdrawn from service.[6]
One example, construction number 27, is preserved at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace ("Air and Space Museum") in Paris.[6][7]
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 pilot
- Capacity: 1 passenger
- Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Lambda air-cooled, seven-cylinder, rotary engine engine, 60 kW (80 hp)
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Devaux, Jean; Marani, Michel (April 1996). "Le mysterieux 'REP' Type D du musée de l'air et de l'espace". Pégase : revue de l'association des amis du musée de l'air (Paris: L'association des amis du musée de l'air) (81): 4–7.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing.
- Munson, Kenneth (1969). Pioneer Aircraft 1903–14. London: Blandford.
- Opdycke, Leonard E. (1999). French Aeroplanes Before the Great War. Atglen, PA: Schiffer.
- "The Paris Aero Salon 1913: Fifth article". Flight (London: Flight) 6 (2): 31–33. 10 January 1914.
- "REP type K". Paris: Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace. 2019. https://www.museeairespace.fr/aller-plus-haut/collections/rep-type-k/.
- "Robert Esnault-Pelterie". L'Aéronautique (Paris: Gauther–Villars) 5 (55): n.p.. December 1923.
Template:Esnault-Pelterie aircraft
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