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Antoinette VII
The prototype of the Antoinette was designed
by Leon Levavasseur and constructed and built by
Gastanbide and Mengin in 1906. These two gentlemen
had long experience in building marine engines. The
marine influence is clearly noticable in the aircraft
fuselage design. The aircraft were named after the
company director Jules Gastanbide's daughter. There
were eight different designs of which the models from
number IV and up, were good flyers. Allready in 1909
Hubert Latham made an attempt to cross the English
Channel using an Antoinette type IV. In 1911 Mr
Latham made a second unsuccesful attempt to cross
the English Channel this time in an Antoinette VII.
The engine was a fuel injected, liquid cooled
50 hp V-8, with a very low weight/hp output rate. The
radiators for cooling were sidemounted on the fuselage
and of original design. The engine was started with a
handcrank and the propeller shaft output was 1200
rpm. The airfoil used was created to give maximum
penetration and had a high lift factor. The wingarea
was 50 m² and wing and control surfaces were covered
with varnished linen fabric, rubberized and waterproofed.
Horizontal control was conventional with rudder and
elevator. The rudder was actuated via a rudder bar and
the elevator with the starbord control wheel. Lateral
control was obtained by wing-warping using the port
control wheel.
The maximum speed was 55 mph and the
Antionette held many records for speed, duration and
altitude. At one time an Antionette held the world
record for distance. The range was approx. 100 miles.
Our model is in details based on the aircraft
on display in Science Museum in London. This is
Hubert Lathams original aircraft.
There is another aircraft exhibited in Musée
de L’air in Paris. This specimen is not truly original as
the wings and control surfaces have been built after
WW2, but using original construction drawings and
documentation from the period. The engine and
fuselage were used 1909/1910 for research at l’lnstitut
Aerodynamique de Saint-Cyr and was donated to the
museum in 1921.
A third aircraft exists in Krakow in Poland but
is presently not available for viewing or photography.
A replica was built in the US and was aquired
by the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine,
USA. This aircraft is still lacking engine and covering
and has a highly modified airfoil.
Note that photographs of the same aircraft on
different occasions show varied constructional details.
At Reims 1912 it was fitted with external ailerons in
lieu of wingwarping.
Antoinette VII replica built for the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine, USA.
Hubert Lathams Antoinette at Reims 1909. Note the temporarily added ailerons.
Antoinette VII ARF 4