Caudron G.4

Infobox Aircraft
name=G.4


caption=Caudron G-4 - United States National Archives
type=Bomber
manufacturer=Caudron
designer=Caudron Frères
first flight=1915
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=French Air Force
more users=Italian Air Force
RNAS
Finnish Air Force
produced=
number built=1,421
unit cost=
developed from=Caudron G.3
variants with their own articles=

The Caudron G.4 was a French biplane with twin engines, widely used during World War I as a bomber aircraft. It was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as an improvement over their Caudron G.3. The aircraft was no delight for the eye with its massive, open construction. The aircraft employed wing warping for banking. The first G.4 was manufactured in 1915, both in France, England and in Italy.

The Caudron G.4 was used as a reconnaissance bomber into the heart of Germany. Later, when Germany developed a fighter force, the aircraft had to be used for night bombings.

The G.4 was in use in Belgium, France, Finland, Italy, UK, and in the United States.

Development

While the Caudron G.3 was a reliable reconnaissance aircraft, it could not carry a useful bombload, and owing to its design, was difficult to fit with useful defensive armament. In order to solve these problems, the Caudron G4 was designed as a twin engined development of the G.3, first flying in March 1915.cite book |author=Donald, David (Editor)
|title=The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft
publisher=Aerospace Publishing
year=1997
id= ISBN 1-85605-375-X While the G.4 had a similar pod and boom layout to the G.3, it has two Le Rhône rotary or Anzani 10 radial engines mounted on struts between the wings instead of a single similar engine at the front of the crew nacelle, while wingspan was increased and the tailplane had four rudders instead of two. This allowed an observer/gunner position to be fitted in the nose of the nacelle, while the additional power allowed it to carry a bombload of 100 kg.

A total of 1358 G.4s were produced in France, while a further 51 examples produced by the A.E.R. company in Italy and 12 were built in Britain by the British Caudron company.

Operational history

World War 1

The G.4 entered service with the French Aéronautique Militaire in November 1915. It was the first twin engined aircraft in service in any numbers with the French. The Caudron G.4 was used to carry out bombing raids deep behind the front line, being used to attack targets as far away as the Rhineland. Increasing losses led to its withdrawal from day bombing missions by the French in the autumn of 1916 .

The British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) also used the G.4 as a bomber, Number 4 and 5 Wing RNAS using it for attacks against German seaplane and airship bases in Belgium. It was finally replaced in RNAS service by Handley Page O/100 aircraft in the autumn of 1917 . Italian G.4s proved successful in operating in the mountainous Alpine fronts, where its good altitude capabilities proved useful . The G.4 was also by the Imperial Russian Air Force for reconnaissance purposes.

Use in Finland

The Finnish Air Force purchased one G.4 as well as two G.3s aircraft with spares, from Flyg Aktiebolaget on April 26, 1923 for 100,000 Finnish markka. The G.4 was used by the FAF as an ambulance aircraft in 1923.

Versions

The first G.4 prototype flew in March 1915. The G.4 was manufactured in three main versions, A2 for reconnaissance, B2 for bombing and E2 for training. The A2 was equipped with a radio for fire spotting, B2 could carry 100 kg of bombs and the E2 was equipped with dual controls. G.4IB (French: "Blindage") was an armoured version. There were also other bomber and escort aircraft versions.

The G.6 was a further developed G.4, with a conventional fuselage and tail replacing the pod and boom arrangement of the G.3.

Operators

;BEL:;COL:Fuerza Aérea Colombiana;FRA:Aviation Militaire;FIN:Finnish Air Force;ITA:Aeronautica Militare;ROM:Romanian Air Force;RUS:Imperial Russian Air Service;UK:Royal Naval Air Service;USA:United States Army Air Service

pecifications (G.4)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=Suomen ilmavoimien lentokoneet
crew=Two, pilot and observer/gunner
capacity=
length main=7.27 m
length alt= 23 ft 10 in
span main=17.20 m
span alt= 56 ft 5 in
height main=2.60 m
height alt= 8 ft 6 in
area main=38.00 m²
area alt= 409 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 733 kg
empty weight alt= 1,612 lb
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=1,180 kg
max takeoff weight alt= 2,600 lb
more general=

engine (prop)=Le Rhône C
type of prop=radial
number of props=2
power main= 60 kW
power alt=80 hp
power original=

max speed main=124 km/h
max speed alt= 67 knots, 77 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=4,000 m
ceiling alt= 13,100 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
* Endurance: 3½ hours
armament=
* 1 × machine gun
* 113 kg (250 lb) of bombs
avionics=

References

External links

* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/caudron.htm Caudron G.4 (Smithsonian Museum)]
* [http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/caudron.html Caudron Brothers]
* Kalevi Keskinen, Kyösti Partonen, Kari Stenman: "Suomen Ilmavoimat I 1918-27", 2005. ISBN 952-99432-2-9.
* Kalevi Keskinen, Kari Stenman, Klaus Niska: "Suomen ilmavoimien lentokoneet 1918-1939', Tietoteos, 1976.

ee also