The 1911 Billing biplane was designed and built by Eardley Billing at Brooklands in the UK during 1911. It was a single-seat tractor built from C.A.Moreing’s discarded Voisin.
The Billing tractor biplane was constructed using the wings of the Voisin pusher of C.A. Moreing. The engine was a 40 h.p. ENV Type D. It was originally flown with an uncovered fuselage but fabric was added later.
The machine was in use from May 1911 to the end of the season, becoming nicknamed the ‘Oozley Bird’. Billing was, at that time, in charge of the Lane Gliding School at Brooklands and for a brief period at the begining of 1912 was in charge of the Deperdussin School at Brooklands. Eardley and his wife Ada also ran the Bluebird restaurant at Brooklands until its closure at the outbreak of war.
The Billing biplane was crashed on 4 October 1911 by N.S. Percival, who rebuilt it as the Percival Parseval I at the end of 1911. Percival had completed the tests for his Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate No.111 in the machine on 1 August 1911.
The film “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” is notable for reproductions of 1910-era aircraft, including a triplane, monoplanes, biplanes and also Horatio Phillips’s 20-winged multiplane from 1904. Air Commodore Wheeler insisted on authentic materials but allowed the use of modern engines and modifications necessary to ensure safety. Of 20 types built in 1964 at £5,000 pounds each, six could fly, flown by six stunt pilots and maintained by 14 mechanics. The race takeoff scene where seven aircraft are in the air at once included a composite addition. Flying conditions were monitored with aerial scenes filmed before 10 am or in early evening when the air was least turbulent, for the replicas, true to the originals, were flimsy – and control, especially in the lateral plane, tended to be marginal.
The actual machine upon which they were based on was No.20 built by the Clement Bayard Motor Co in Paris. They were built at White Waltham using a welded steel tube fuselage, wooden wings (with ailerons instead of wing warping) and a 30 hp Ardem 4C02 engine. Initial flight trials were very poor and a 50 hp Ardem 4C02 and a two foot extension to the wing span was put in before they could fly well enough.
The replica of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle was in its early form unable to leave the ground except in short hops. Extending the wingspan and fitting a more powerful Ardem 50 hp engine produced only marginal improvement. When Doug Bianchi and the Personal Planes production staff who constructed the replica consulted with Alan Wheeler, he recalled that the Demoiselle’s designer and first pilot, Alberto Santos-Dumont was a very short, slightly built man. A suitably small pilot, Joan Hughes, a wartime member of the Air Transport Auxiliary who was the Airways Flying Club chief instructor, was hired. With the reduced payload, the diminutive Demoiselle flew very well, and Hughes proved a consummate stunt flyer.
Joan Hughes – former WW2 ATA pilot
After filming they were dispersed: PPS/REP/2 – PPS/DEM/1 to RAF Gatow, Berlin PPS/REP/3 – PPS/DEM/2 to Sydney, Australia PPS/REP/4 – PPS/DEM/3 to R.Jude at Laleham, UK
The aircraft was a full-scale replica of a Fokker Eindecker EIII that was built circa 1975 to be as close as possible to the original design which entered military service in 1915.
The plans for the aircraft were based on contemporary records and measurements of the only surviving original example, which is housed in the Science Museum in London.
The E.III G-AVJO was marked up as Fok.E.III/157.
The replica E.III with a Continental A75 engine. Registered G-AVJO serial PPS/REP/6 and PPS/FOK/1, it flew with WW1 markings as ‘Fok.EIII/157’ and later in Dutch Air Force colours as ‘La34’. It went into store at Booker.
A Morane N replica was built purely for fun by Doug Bianchi at Wycombe Air Park. It differs from the genuine article in that it has a fixed tailplane and normal elevators, as distinct from an all flying tailplane, and ailerons are used in¬stead of wing warping.
The engine was a Continental C 90 and although the nose shape is correct it is nine inches too long. The fuselage is made of welded steel and the wings are of wood. The gun is gas operated and works although so far it has only been fired on the ground, as it is rather too close to the petrol tank for comfort. The replica performs well, with a top speed of 100 mph, and will cruise at 80 mph
Type N (replica)
A M.S. Type N replica was built by Personal Plane Services at Booker in 1969. Powered by a Warner Super Scarab in flew that year, registered G-AWBU PPS/REP/7. It flew in French Air Force colours as ‘No.50’.
The Bee 2, designed and manufactured by the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is a two-seat microlight. The Rotax 477-powered Chinese microlight cruises at 40 mph, stalls at 27.5 mph and covers a 120 mile range.
Redesign of the CL.la by BFW in accordance with the “new design principles” as requested by Idflieg resulted in the CL.III, a single prototype of which was completed at the close of hostilities but was not apparently subjected to Idflieg testing. Adhering closely to the concept of the CL.la, the CL.III was powered by a 200hp Benz Bz IV engine and featured longer-span, more angular wings. A further development, the CL.IV, remained on the BFW drawing boards.
Engine: 200hp Benz Bz IV Wingspan: 11.54 m / 38 ft 10 in Length: 7.81 m / 26 ft 7 in
The second prototype of the CL.I two-seat reconnaissance fighter was completed with a 175hp MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg) Mana III six-cylinder in-line engine as the CL.II, or Type 18, in May 1918. In all other respects the CL.II was similar to the CL.I.
Engine: 175hp MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg) Mana III six-cylinder in-line
In late 1917, the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) of Munich was awarded a contract to build two prototypes of the CL.I two-seat reconnaissance fighter of original design. At the time, BFW was negotiating a contract to build 100 Halberstadt CL.II reconnaissance fighters and the company’s CL.I was specifically designed to require 20% less manufacturing manhours than the Halberstadt aircraft. The first prototype, known by BFW as the Type 17, was completed in April 1918 with a 160hp Mercedes D III engine. A single-bay unequal span biplane with an intended armament of one fixed LMG 08/15 machine gun and an LMG 14 on a ring mounting, the CL.I was sent to the Adlershof test centre for Typprüfung in July 1918, but the Idflieg reported that it was “in no way equal” to the Hannover CL.V, requesting that improvements be made and the aircraft resubmitted for further evaluation. Accordingly, a lighter fuselage was fitted and, as the CL.la, the aircraft underwent static load testing between 30 August and 14 September 1918. Results were unsatisfactory and BFW agreed to redesign the CL.Ia in accordance with “new design principles”.
Engine: 160hp Mercedes D III Take-off weight: 1060 kg / 2337 lb Empty weight: 720 kg / 1587 lb Wingspan: 10.62 m / 35 ft 10 in Length: 7.81 m / 26 ft 7 in
