Aircraft investigation >>>>>>> HOME PAGE
AIRCRAFT INVESTIGATION
weight and performance calculations for the Antoinette VII
Antoinette VII
role : experimental/research/flying trials
importance : *****
first flight : 09 October 1908 at Issy operational : February 1909
country : France
design : Leon Levavasseur
production : 2 aircraft at Puteaux, Paris suburb
general information :
After the first flight of the prototype in October 1908 the design was adapted and the wing area enlarged.
On 19 February 1909 it made a flight of 5 km at Mourmelon. In March 1909 the airplane was handed to Hubert Latham (1883-1912), the gentleman of the skies. Latham took up the dangerous sport of flying when his doctor told him he had only one year to live. He was killed several years later by a wounded buffalo while on safari in Africa. He was one of the early great pilots.
On 19 July 1909 he tried to cross the channel in his Antoinette IV. He takes off from Sangatte, near to Calais, but due to engine failure he had to ditch in the sea 13km out of the French coast. The airplane stayed afloat and Latham and his plane was picked up by the France torpedo-destroyer “Harpon”.
Latham repaired his plane and he flew it later in August during the 1909 Reims air meeting. On 27 July 1909 flying an Antoinette VII he is 1 km away from reaching the cliffs of Dover but again an engine failure ends him up in the water. (or he ditched 1 km after TO !?) The VII was also recovered from the water repaired and taken to Reims.
The difference with the type IV is that the VII used wing warping for control and the IV had ailerons.
At the Reims air show Hubert Latham set a new world height record by reaching 155 [m] on 29 August 1909. Also he set a speed record over 100 km at 67 km/hr.
1 December 1909 Latham reaches 453 [m] height in his 50 hp Antoinette at Chalons, 07 January 1910 1050 [m] over Chalons and on 07 July 1910 1384 [m] at Reims.
On 23 April 1910 Hubert Latham set the speed record at 77.6 km/hr in Nice.
On 09 July 1910 René Labouchere (1890-1968) set an endurance record for staying in the air for 4 hrs 19 mins in his 50 hp Antoinette, flying at the 1910 aviation week in Reims.
The leading edge was swept aft 3°. They had a chord of 3 meters (9.8 feet) at the root, tapering to 2 meters (6.6 feet) at the tip. The wing had an angle of incidence of 4° with 6° dihedral.
The 8V was a direct-drive engine which turned a propeller with two aluminium blades which were riveted to a steel tube that attached to the engine’s output shaft. The propeller had a diameter of 2.20 meters (7 feet, 2.6 inches).
Construction : Ash wood and spruce wood, the cladding was
wooden panels and rubber-soaked cloth.
Crew : 1 Passengers : 1
users : Hubert Latham, René Labouchere, Eugene Welferinger
Eugene Welferinger (1872-1936) aboard a Antoinette IV
engine : 1 Antoinette 50hp liquid-cooled 8 -cylinder V-engine 50 [hp](37.3 KW)
dimensions :
wingspan : 12.8 [m], length : 11.46 [m], height : 2.99[m]
wing area : 33.9 [m^2]
weights :
max.take-off weight : 590 [kg]
empty weight operational : 400 [kg] useful load : 0 [kg]
performance :
maximum speed :70 [km/hr] at sea-level
cruise speed :63 [km/u] op 50 [m]
service ceiling : 1384 [m]
endurance : 4.1 [hours]
range : 258 [km]
description :
low-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear and tail strut
two spar wing
engines, landing gear, fuel and useful load in or attached to the fuselage
airscrew :
fixed pitch 2 -bladed tractor peddle-shape airscrew with max. efficiency :0.61 [ ]
diameter airscrew 2.20 [m]
angle of attack prop : 13.80 [ ]
fine pitch
reduction : 1.00 [ ]
airscrew revs : 1100 [r.p.m.]
Early Antoinette IV, in the middle Hubert Latham, to the right Leon Levavasseur. (Librairie Militaire Guerin, Mourmelon)
pitch at Max speed 1.06 [m]
blade-tip speed at Vmax and max revs. : 107 [m/s]
calculation : *1* (dimensions)
measured wing chord : 2.39 [m]
mean wing chord : 2.65 [m]
calculated wing chord (square tips): 2.80 [m]
wing aspect ratio : 4.83 [] seize (span*length*height) : 439 [m^3]
calculation : *2* (fuel consumption)
oil consumption : 0.9 [kg/hr]
fuel consumption(cruise speed) : 22.1 [kg/hr] (30.1 [litre/hr]) at 80 [%] power
distance flown for 1 kg fuel : 2.85 [km/kg] at 692 [m] cruise height, sfc : 742.2 [kg/kwh]
estimated total fuel capacity : 140.20 [litre] (102.77 [kg])
calculation : *3* (weight)
weight engine(s) dry : 95.0 [kg] = 2.55 [kg/KW]
weight 6.0 litre oil tank : 0.51 [kg]
oil tank filled with 0.3 litre oil : 0.3 [kg]
oil in engine 2.1 litre oil : 1.9 [kg]
fuel in engine 0.3 litre fuel : 0.19 [kg]
weight 12.8 litre gravity patrol tank(s) : 1.9 [kg]
weight radiator : 28.2 [kg]
weight exhaust pipes & fuel lines 4.6 [kg]
weight cowling 1.5 [kg]
weight airscrew(s) (wood) incl. boss & bolts : 16.1 [kg]
total weight propulsion system : 150 [kg](25.4 [%])
***************************************************************
fuselage skeleton (wood gauge : 4.25 [cm]): 53 [kg]
Wheel diameter : 24 inch = 61 [cm]
Prop : 6 ft 10 inch = 2.08 [m]
Span : 46 ft = 14.02 [m]
Length :40 ft = 12.19 [m]
Total weight : 1040 lbs = 472 [kg]
Wing area : 365 sq.ft = 33.9 [m2]
Chord at tip : 6 ft 8 inch = 2.03 [m] at root : 10 ft = 3.05 [m]
bracing : 4.3 [kg]
fuselage covering ( 24.8 [m2] doped linen fabric) : 7.9 [kg]
weight instruments. : 1.1 [kg]
weight controls : 5.7 [kg]
weight seats : 3.0 [kg]
weight 127 [litre] main fuel tank empty : 10.2 [kg]
weight engine mount : 1.9 [kg]
total weight fuselage : 87 [kg](14.7 [%])
***************************************************************
weight wing covering (doped linen fabric) : 38 [kg]
total weight ribs (18 ribs) : 35 [kg]
load on front upper spar (clmax) per running metre : 268.8 [N]
load on rear upper spar (vmax) per running metre : 96.2 [N]
Latham and his airplane salvaged by the French warship “Harpon”, 19 July 1909.
total weight 4 spars : 25 [kg]
weight wings : 98 [kg]
weight wing/square meter : 2.89 [kg]
weight cables (51 [m]) : 10.8 [kg] (= 210 [gram] per metre)
diameter cable : 5.9 [mm]
weight fin & rudder (1.9 [m2]) : 5.8 [kg]
weight stabilizer & elevator (3.8 [m2]): 11.3 [kg]
total weight wing surfaces & bracing : 126 [kg] (21.3 [%])
*******************************************************************
wheel pressure : 295.0 [kg]
weight 2 wheels (610 [mm] by 72 [mm]) : 12.8 [kg]
weight tailskid : 1.4 [kg]
weight undercarriage with axle 16.6 [kg]
total weight landing gear : 30.8 [kg] (5.2 [%]
*******************************************************************
********************************************************************
calculated empty weight : 393 [kg](66.6 [%])
weight oil for 4.9 hours flying : 4.6 [kg]
weight cooling fluids : 8.1 [kg]
calculated operational weight empty : 406 [kg] (68.8 [%])
published operational weight empty : 400 [kg] (67.8 [%])
___o___
"
weight crew : 81 [kg]
weight fuel for 1.0 hours flying : 22 [kg]
********************************************************************
operational weight : 509 [kg](86.2 [%])
fuel reserve : 80.7 [kg] enough for 3.65 [hours] flying
possible additional useful load : 0 [kg]
operational weight fully loaded : 590 [kg] with fuel tank filled for 100 [%]
published maximum take-off weight : 590 [kg] (100.0 [%])
Latham's Antoinette VII. This is a 1910 version with 100 hp V-16 engine.
calculation : * 4 * (engine power)
power loading (Take-off) : 15.82 [kg/kW]
power loading (operational without useful load) : 13.65 [kg/kW]
total power : 37.3 [kW] at 1100 [r.p.m]
calculation : *5* (loads)
manoeuvre load : 1.1 [g] at 1000 [m]
limit load : 3.0 [g] ultimate load : 4.5 [g] load factor : 2.1 [g]
design flight time : 3.28 [hours]
design cycles : 152 sorties, design hours : 150 [hours]
operational wing loading : 147 [N/m^2]
wing stress (3 g) during operation : 153 [N/kg] at 3g emergency manoeuvre
calculation : *6* (angles of attack)
angle of attack zero lift : -1.36 ["]
max. angle of attack (stalling angle) : 14.46 ["]
angle of attack at max. speed : 7.35 ["]
calculation : *7* (lift & drag ratios
lift coefficient at angle of attack 0° :0.10 [ ]
lift coefficient at max. angle of attack : 1.16 [ ]
lift coefficient at max. speed : 0.64 [ ]
induced drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.0358 [ ]
drag coefficient at max. speed : 0.1470 [ ]
drag coefficient (zero lift) : 0.1112 [ ]
calculation : *8* (speeds
stalling speed at sea-level (OW): 52 [km/u]
stalling speed at sea-level (MTOW): 56 [km/u]
landing speed at sea-level: 61 [km/hr]
min. drag speed (max endurance) at cruise height : 59 [km/hr] at 692 [m] (power:73 [%])
min. power speed (max range) : 59 [km/hr] at 692 [m] (power:73 [%])
cruising speed : 63 [km/hr] op 692 [m] (power:80 [%])
design speed prop : 66 [km/hr]
maximum speed : 70 [km/hr] op 50 [m] (power:99 [%])
climbing speed at sea-level : 88 [m/min]
calculation : *9* (regarding various performances)
take-off speed : 58.6 [km/u]
static prop wash : 57 [km/u]
take-off distance at sea-level : 138 [m]
lift/drag ratio : 5.06 [ ]
time to 1000m : 19.18 [min]
time to 1500m : 47.44 [min]
practical ceiling (operational weight) : 1798 [m] with flying weight :509 [kg] line 3385
practical ceiling fully loaded (mtow- 30 min.fuel) : 1033 [m] with flying weight :579 [kg]
max. dive speed : 155.5 [km/hr] at 33 [m] height
turning speed at CLmax : 60.2 [km/u] at 50 [m] height
turn radius at 50m: 32 [m]
time needed for 360* turn 11.9 [seconds] at 50m
load factor at max. angle turn 1.34 ["g"]
calculation *10* (action radius & endurance)
operational endurance : 4.65 [hours] with 1 crew and 0.5 [kg] useful load and 100.0 [%] fuel
published endurance : 4.10 [hours] with 1 crew and possible useful load : 12.7 [kg] and 88.1 [%] fuel
published range : 258 [km] with 1 crew and 12.7 [kg] useful load and 88.1 [%] fuel
max range theoretically with additional fuel tanks for total 140.9 [litre] fuel : 294.6 [km]
useful load with action-radius 250km : 0 [kg]
production (500 km) : 0 [tonkm/hour]
In this picture the Antoinette looks to have a bigger span, it look like the Antoinette IV had a bigger wing span of 14.80 [m] with a wing surface of 50 [m2] and that the Antoinette VII had it’s span reduced to 12.80 m2 with surface of 33.9 m2 ?
Literature :
Jane’s record breaking aircraft blz.19
Historische vliegtuigen page 58,98,99
Praktisch handbook vliegtuigen deel 1 page 60,61
Wikipedia
DISCLAIMER Above calculations are based on published data, they must be
regarded as indication not as facts.
Calculated performance and weight may not correspond with actual weights
and performances and are assumptions for which no responsibility can be taken.
Calculations are as accurate as possible, they can be fine-tuned when more data
is available, you are welcome to give suggestions and additional information
so we can improve our program. For copyright on drawings/photographs/
content please mail to below mail address
(c) B van der Zalm 07 October 2020 contact : info.aircraftinvestigation@gmail.com python 3.7.4
Antoinette IV, Note the struts below the wing for support and the ailerons
The Antoinette IV was approximately 11,50 mètres (37.73 feet) long with a wingspan of 14,80 mètres (48.56 feet).
Early Antoinette, probably October 1908