Voisin (aircraft)

For other uses, see Voisin (disambiguation).

Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G. Voisin

Industry	Aerospace
Founded	1906
Headquarters	France
Key people	Gabriel Voisin

Voisin was a French aircraft company, one of first in the world. It was established in 1906 by two brothers, Gabriel Voisin and Charles Voisin, but it was continued only by Gabriel after the death of Charles Voisin in 1912; the full official company name became Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G. Voisin^{[1][2][n 1]} (English: Aeroplanes G. Voisin public limited company). It created the Europe's first manned, engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing, the Voisin-Farman I.

During World War I, it became a major producer of military aircraft, notably the Voisin III. Later on, Gabriel Voisin switched to design and production of exceptional automobiles under the name Avions Voisin.

Breakthrough in European aviation

Main article: Voisin-Farman I

1910 experimental two-seater biplane with mitrailleuse fired by the passenger

Gabriel had previously collaborated with fellow aviation pioneer Louis Blériot forming in 1905 the company Ateliers d' Aviation Edouard Surcouf, Blériot et Voisin.^[3] Gabriel Voisin bought out Louis Blériot and on 5th November^[3] 1906 established with Charles the Appareils d'Aviation Les Frères Voisin^[3] (English: Flying Machines of Voisin Brothers). The company was based at Billancourt, near Paris; "this was the first commercial aircraft factory in Europe".^[4] Early Voisin gliders and powered heavier-than-air planes were noted but not fully successful. The company's trademark became the pusher biplane design. Their great breakthrough came with the Voisin-Farman I of 1907, a machine designed and built by Voisins and paid by Henri Farman. It became the first European aircraft to complete a one-kilometer flight.

Designs of 1909-1914

Canard Voisin seaplane under trial on the Seine, on August 3, 1911. The front of the aircraft is to the right.

Main article: Canard Voisin

In 1910, the company built an experimental military aircraft, exhibited at the Paris Air Show, but not put into production. More notable was that same year's Voisin Canard, used as a seaplane with the world's first aircraft carrier. Some eighty aircraft had been built by 1912, when Charles was killed in a motor accident.

Voisin designs in World War I

Main article: Voisin III

The Type L, or Voisin I, was developed for the French Army's 1912 trials. It performed successfully, and some seventy were built in France, and a small number in Russia, before it was replaced by the Type LA or Voisin III design. A large number of Voisin IIIs followed, production increasing with the outbreak of the First World War. The Voisin III was followed by improved Type LB and Type LBS, or Voisin IV and Voisin V aircraft. The larger Type LC, Voisin VII, followed in 1916, but was not a success and only a hundred were built.

Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, it became apparent that the French aviation industry could not produce aircraft in sufficient numbers to meet military requirements. Manufacturers from various other fields became aviation subcontractors, and later license-builders. The earliest such partnership was between Louis Breguet and Michelin. Gabriel Voisin was late to this field, although his designs were produced in quantity by Russian licensees. By 1918, Voisin was involved with the Voisin-Lafresnaye company, a major constructor of airframes, and the Voisin-Lefebvre company, a major builder of aircraft engines.

Following the Voisin VII came the more powerful, and more successful, Type LAP and Type LBP, known as the Voisin VIII. This was the French army's main night bomber in 1916–1917, with over one thousand built. The Voisin IX, or Type LC, was an unsuccessful design for a reconnaissance aeroplane, which lost out to the superior Salmson 2 and Breguet 14. The Voisin X, Type LAR and Type LBR, was the Voisin VIII with a more reliable Renault engine in place of the previous Peugeot design. Deliveries were much delayed, but some nine hundred were built by the end of the war.

The last significant Voisin design, the Voisin XII, was successful in trials in 1918, but with the end of the war, no production was ordered. Unlike previous Voisins, the Voisin XII was a large, twin-tractor-engined biplane night bomber, rather more elegant than previous, boxy Voisins.

Voisin X ambulance variant

In 1918, a Voisin X (No. 3500) was used to create the Voisin 'Aerochir' ('Ambulance'). The aircraft was capable of flying a surgeon, together with an operating table and support equipment, including an x-ray machine and autoclave, into the battlefield. Eight hundred pounds (360 kg) of equipment could be carried in under-wing panniers.^[5]

Post World War I

Main article: Avions Voisin

After 1918, Gabriel Voisin abandoned the aviation industry in favor of automobile construction under the brand Avions Voisin.

Notes

1. ^ Gunston, 1993, says the full name was "Aéroplanes G. Voisin". On the other hand the avions-voisin.org webpage specifies the name as "Société Aéroplanes Voisin, Société Anonyme".

References

1. ^ Baldwin, Nick (1987). The World guide to automobile manufacturers. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File Publications. p. 508. ISBN 0816018448. 
2. ^ http://www.avions-voisin.org/public/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=12
3. ^ ^{a b c} Gunston, Bill (1993). World encyclopaedia of aircraft manufacturers: from the pioneers to the present day. Naval Institute Press. p. 318. ISBN 1557509395. http://books.google.com/books?ei=0nD4TfrqOsjKswbkz6CKCQ&ct=result&id=ObAeAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Appareils+d%27Aviation+Les+Fr%C3%A8res+Voisin%22&q=%22Appareils+d%27Aviation%22#search_anchor. 
4. ^ Davilla & Soltan, p. 541
5. ^ Stamford, Lincs., U.K.: FlyPast, Key Publishing Ltd, Flying Hospital, April 2007 No. 309 p. 14

Bibliography

• (French) Carlier, Claude, Sera Maître du Monde, qui sera Maître de l'Air: La Création de l'Aviation militaire française. Paris: Economica/ISC, 2004. ISBN 2-7178-4918-1
• Davilla, James J., & Soltan, Arthur M., French Aircraft of the First World War. Stratford, Connecticut: Flying Machines Press, 1997. ISBN 0-9637110-4-0
• Gabriel Voisin,Mes 10.000 Cerfs-volants,Editions La Table Ronde, Paris, 1960.