1930 experimental aircraft
The Gastambide-Mengin monoplane (later Gastambide-Mengin I, Gastambide-Mengin II and Antoinette II) was an early French experimental aircraft designed by Léon Levavasseur, and was the first aircraft built by the Antoinette company.[1] The name came from Jules Gastambide, who financed the company, and Gabriel Mengin, the aircraft engineer.[2]
Design and development
The monoplane (later known as the Gastambide-Mengin I) was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Antoinette piston engine driving a tractor propeller.[1] It was noted for having a complex quadricycle landing gear.[1] The monoplane made four flights between 8 and 14 February 1908 flown by a mechanic named Boyer, the furthest being a flight of 150 m.[1] After these flights, the aircraft was rebuilt between February and August 1908 as the Gastambide-Mengin II (later named the Antoinette II), the modifications including revised, trailing edge-hinged triangular ailerons.[1] The modified aircraft made three short flights in August 1908, one of these on 21 August 1908 being the first circle flown by a monoplane, and on a flight the previous day (20 August 1908) Robert Gastambide became the first passenger flown in a monoplane.[1] With lessons learnt from the design, Levavasseur went on to design a family of monoplanes named after Antoinette Gastambide, the daughter of Jules Gastambide.[1]
