Bassou Rubis

{{Infobox aircraft | name = Rubis | logo = | logo_size = | image = | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Side-by-side two seat touring and training aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = France | manufacturer = | design_group = | designer = Antoine Bassou | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = late 1932-early 1933 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''Bassou Rubis''' (Ruby) was a low power, robust French aircraft designed for basic training and touring.

==Design and development==

The Rubis was the outcome of design studies of a low power, two seat aircraft intended to be used as a trainer and capable of modest touring trips. Stability was preferred over performance; robustness was also required. ''Les Ailes'' referred to it as an ''avion de promenade''. The studies pointed to a parasol wing aircraft with the characteristics of a medium performance glider<ref name=Lailes1/>

As a result, the Rubis had a relatively long span, cantilever, five part wing with a short central section, long, sharply tapering outer panels and easily detachable wingtips to protect the wings against ground contact shocks. The aspect ratio was 10 and there was no dihedral. Structurally the wing was all metal, built mostly from duralumin tubes and with two principal spars which converged in the outer panels to almost meet at their tips. The inner section had parallel spars, though the ribs there were joined by additional, diagonal members to strengthen the region for the leading edge mounted engine and the various struts which attached the wing to the fuselage. The wing was fabric covered except around the leading and trailing edges, which were metal skinned. It had narrow, {{convert|2.0|m|ftin|abbr=on}} span ailerons.<ref name=Lailes1/>

The fuselage proper was formed by two parallel, uncovered flat girder frames {{convert|1.10|m|ftin|abbr=on}} apart, each with two long, light alloy primary members. In flight the upper members, with the wings upon them, were horizontal. At its forward end each girder frame had a vertical cross-brace between the upper and lower members. The lower one sloped upward aft, where three diagonal struts braced the girders; wire cross-bracing stabilised the girders into a beam. At the rear the empennage was conventional, with a parallel chord tailplane mounted on top of the upper fuselage members, a one piece, straight edged elevator hinged on it. There was a single, central fin which blended into a rhombohedral rudder; its cut-away underside provided for elevator movement.<ref name=Lailes1/>

The Rubis had a tube-framed, streamlined pod, containing a pair of side-by-seats in an oval, open cockpit which extended just aft of the trailing edge. The pod also formed an integral part of the undercarriage structure. On each side, a main undercarriage leg sloped inwards from the wheel hub to the upper end of the fuselage frame; the hub was at the vertex of a V-strut attached to the pod frame. The upper pod frame was braced to the fuselage frames with a pair of transverse V-struts, one ahead and one aft of the cockpit. A long tailskid, which reached out to the rear end of the pod, was fixed to the central lower pod frame.<ref name=Lailes1/>

The Rubis was powered by a {{convert|40|hp|kW|abbr=on|order=flip}} nine cylinder Salmson 9AD radial engine mounted centrally with its thrust line just above the wing. Its cylinders were exposed for cooling but there was a long, semi-teardrop fairing behind it to smooth the airflow over the wing's upper surface. Fuel and oil tanks were in the wing centre section.<ref name=Lailes1/>

The exact date of the first flight of the Rubis is not known but the initial development tests were complete by March 1933.<ref name=Lailes1/> There are no further references to it in the French contemporary digitised records of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

==The name Rubis==

In 1935 Bassou used the name Rubis again for a design of another high wing, tractor aircraft with a pod fuselage but with its tail on a pair of narrow beams rather the deep girder frame of the earlier aircraft, though there is no evidence of its construction.<ref name=LaeroN/>

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=Les Ailes, March 1933<ref name=Lailes1/> |prime units?=met  |genhide=

|crew=Two |capacity= |length m=5.5 |length note= |span m=11 |span note= |height m=2.3 |height note= |wing area sqm=13 |wing area note= |aspect ratio=10 |airfoil= |empty weight kg=230 |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=500 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= {{convert|75|L|Impgal USgal|abbr=on}} |more general=  |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Salmson 9AD |eng1 type=9-cylinder radial |eng1 hp=40 |more power=

|perfhide=

|max speed kmh=143 |max speed note= |cruise speed kmh=120 |cruise speed note= |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |minimum control speed kmh= |minimum control speed mph= |minimum control speed kts= |minimum control speed note= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |endurance= |ceiling m=3000 |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |sink rate ms= |sink rate ftmin= |sink rate note= |lift to drag= |wing loading kg/m2= |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |fuel consumption kg/km= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass= |more performance= *'''Take-off speed:''' {{convert|50|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}

}}

==References== <references>

<ref name=Lailes1>{{cite journal|date=16 March 1933 |title=L'avion de promenade et d'école Bassou type "Rubis"|journal=Les Ailes|issue=613 |pages=3 |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6556840x/f3}}</ref>

<ref name=LaeroN>{{cite journal |last= |first= |authorlink= |date=December 1935 |title=VII Tableau de l'Aéronautique francaise|journal=L'Aéronautique|volume=199 |issue= |pages=331|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553620j/f5 }}</ref>

</references>

Category:Parasol-wing aircraft Category:1930s French sport aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1933