Deperdussin Type B monoplane, 1911 (model)
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Deperdussin Type B monoplane, 1911 (model).jpg) (i)
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Arch Two , Area 16 Aviation (display) |
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A cased 1:48 scale model of the 1911 Deperdussin Type B monoplane, made by Philip Veale.
History
Armande Deperdussin (1867-1924) was a Belgian entrepreneur who decided to get into the nascent aircraft business in 1910, hiring engineer Louis Béchereau to design a series of aircraft for Aéroplanes Deperdussin that went on to win a number of international races.
Béchereau's minimalist monoplane designs rapidly evolved towards rigid-skinned aircraft with nearly circular cross-sections, with the skin shape giving additional rigidity to the structure rather than relying wholly on struts and wires.
Powered by Gnôme rotary engines, Deperdussins won the 9 September 1912 James Gordon Bennett Cup race at Chicago, Illinois, the first Schneider Trophy race at Monaco on 16 April 1913, the Gordon Bennett Cup at Reims, France on 29 September 1913 and on 17 October 1913 won the Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe Paris air race. At the James Gordon Bennet Cup event, a Deperdussin also set the new absolute world speed record, clocking a speed of 203.85 km/h, making it the world's fastest pre-war aircraft.
Armande Deperdussin was arrested for fraud in 1913, and the company, now Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin was restructured and renamed as Société Provisoire des Aéroplanes Deperdussin, and then, again, as Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés. This last renaming eliminated Deperdussin's name from the company title while keeping the earlier SPAD initials.
The restructured company was run by Béchereau after a consortium led by Louis Blériot bought out the company's assets.
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