A Vlaicu III
A Vlaicu III | |
---|---|
Role | Monoplane |
Designer | Aurel Vlaicu |
First flight | 1914 |
Number built | 1 |
Developed from | A Vlaicu II |
The A Vlaicu III was the world's first metal-built aircraft,[1] designed and built in Romania prior to World War I. It was the third powered aircraft designed by pioneering Romanian aviator Aurel Vlaicu.
Design and development
Engineer and inventor Aurel Vlaicu, who was among the first pilots in Romania, began the design of the third in his series of powered aircraft in the second half of 1911. The design was based on his earlier
It was the world's first metal-built aircraft.[2]
At the time of Vlaicu's death in the crash of the A Vlaicu II in 1913, two A. Vlaicu IIIs were under construction for delivery to the Marconi Company. The British company was supposed to receive one for performance evaluation and experimentation with aerial radio, the other was supposed to remain in Romania. After Vlaicu's death, one of the two aircraft was completed by his friends Giovanni Magnani and Constantin Silisteanu; and was ready to fly in May 1914.
Operational history
Two test 'hops' covering a ground distance of 200–300 metres (220-330 yards) at a maximum altitude of about 2 metres (6.6 ft) were made in 1914 by pilot Petre Macavei at Cotroceni airfield. Military authorities of the time refused permission to continue the tests. At a later date, pilots Mircea Zorileanu and Gheorghe Negrescu obtained permission from the Romanian Minister of War to modify the controls of the aircraft and continue the experiments, but it never flew again.
In 1916, during the
Specifications
Data from [5]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 10.75 m (35 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan: 10 m (32 ft 10 in)
- Height: 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
- Wing area: 24 m2 (260 sq ft)
- Gross weight: 575 kg (1,268 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × rotary piston engine, 52 kW (70 hp)
- Propellers: (2 coaxial, counter-rotating) 2-bladed, 2.55 m (8 ft 4 in) diameter
Performance
See also
References
- ^ Jozef Wilczynski, Technology in Comecon: Acceleration of Technological Progress Through Economic Planning and the Market, p. 243
- ^ Jozef Wilczynski, Technology in Comecon: Acceleration of Technological Progress Through Economic Planning and the Market, p. 243
- ^ Hundertmark & Steinle (1985), pp.110-114
- ^ Gheorghiu, Constantin C. (1960). Aurel Vlaicu, un precursor al aviaţiei româneşti. Bucharest: Editura Tehnică.
- ^ Gugju, Ion; Gheorghe Iacobescu; Ovidiu Ionescu. Romanian Aeronautical Constructions 1905 - 1974. Brasov.
- Hundertmark, Michael; Steinle, Holger (1985). Phoenix aus der Asche - Die Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung Berlin. Berlin: Silberstreif Verlag. ISBN 978-3924091026.