<!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. --> {{Infobox aircraft | name = Caudron Type L | logo = | logo_size = | image = Caudron Type L.png | alt = | caption = Type L at the 1913 Paris Salon | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Naval observation aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = France | manufacturer = Caudron | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 4 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = c.1913 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}
The '''Caudron Type L''' was a two-seat French pusher configuration amphibious biplane, flown around 1913 and intended for naval use.
==Design==
With unequal span, two bay, unstaggered wings and an open frame fuselage, the Type L had much in common with the smaller Caudron-Fabre pusher amphibian, as well as with tractor configuration Type J amphibians and Type H floatplanes, some of which were also amphibians. Most of the earlier Caudron biplane types had similar wings and fuselages. The Type L had three sets of parallel and vertical interplane struts on each side, the innermost close to the central nacelle and bracing the centre section. The overhanging upper wing were braced by a pair of parallel, outward leaning struts, which joined the lower wing at the base of the outer vertical struts.<ref name=Hauet/> The inner struts, to which the engine was attached, were ash and the remainder hollowed-out spruce; all joined the rather close pairs of spars in the upper and lower wings.<ref name=Flight/> Diagonal flying wires completed the bracing. The interplane gap was {{convert|1.65|m|ftin|abbr=on|0}}.<ref name=Hauet/> Lateral (roll) control was by wing warping.<ref name=Flight/>
The Type L did not have a long, enclosed fuselage; instead, the empennage was supported on an open girder. The Type L, unusually for Caudron, had two parallel-sided, cross-braced side frames.<ref name=Hauet/> The longitudinal members were steel and the cross-members ash.<ref name=Flight/> The side frames began from the rear spars of both upper and lower wings and converged rearwards to meet at the tail, with upper and lower cross-members towards the rear.<ref name=Hauet/> A short nacelle on the lower wing contained an open, wide cockpit with side-by-side seating, the pilot on the right. Controls were conventional. The nacelle ended behind the forward wing spar, ahead of the {{convert|100|hp|kW|abbr=on|0}} Gnome Delta nine cylinder rotary engine mounted on the rear interplane struts and driving a two blade propeller via 2:1 reduction gearing and a long shaft to clear the trailing edge. At the extreme tail, the final vertical frame member served as the axis for the rudder, with a small, roughly triangular fin ahead of it. The elevator hinge was also mounted high on this member,<ref name=Flight/> with a straight edged tailplane ahead of it.<ref name=Hauet/>
The Type L had short floats, flat bottomed with no chine but in plan and profile curving inwards to the nose. Unlike the Fabre floats of the Caudron-Fabre, these had a step about halfway back. A landing wheel was located on the float centreline, working on an unsprung axle in a slot through to the upper side. The floats were mounted on outer N-form struts to the bases of the inner interplane struts and by W-form struts to the lower longitudinal girder member,<ref name=Hauet/> pivoted at the front with rubber shock absorbers at the rear.<ref name=Flight/> Another rectangular cross-section but unstepped float was positioned under the tail.
The first prototype, intended for delivery to the British Navy, appeared at the 1913 Paris Salon in December,<ref name=Flight/> but it is not known if it had been flown by then. It was destroyed by fire after an engine backfire during tests. The second was trialled by the French Navy, which found it unsatisfactory. It was then delivered to the British as a replacement for the lost first prototype. The last two were rebuilt as Type J marines and used by the French Navy.<ref name=Hauet/> <!-- ==Units using this aircraft/Operators (choose)== -->
==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=Hauet (2001) p.53<ref name=Hauet/> |prime units?=met <!-- General characteristics --> |genhide=
|crew=One pilot |capacity=One passenger |length m=8.05 |length note= |upper span m=14.7 |upper span note= |lower span m=9.3 |lower span note= |height m=3.1 |height note= |wing area sqm=40 |wing area note= |aspect ratio=<!-- sailplanes --> |airfoil= |empty weight kg=510 |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=730 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general= <!-- Powerplant --> |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Gnome Delta |eng1 type=9-cylinder rotary |eng1 hp=100 |eng1 note= |power original= |more power=
|prop blade number=2 |prop name= |prop dia m=3.0 |prop dia note=
<!-- Performance --> |perfhide=
|max speed kmh=90 |max speed note= |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |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=<!-- if range unknown --> |ceiling m= |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits=<!-- aerobatic --> |roll rate=<!-- aerobatic --> |glide ratio=<!-- sailplanes --> |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude= |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= |thrust/weight=
|more performance=
}}
==References== <references>
<ref name=Hauet>{{cite book |title=Les Avions Caudrons |last=Hauet|first=André|year=2001|volume=1|publisher=Lela Presse|location=Outreau|isbn=2 914017-08-1|pages=53–5}}</ref>
<ref name=Flight>{{cite magazine |date=20 December 1913 |title= The Paris Aero Salon 1913 - Caudron.|magazine= Flight|volume=V |issue=51 |pages=1379–80 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%201353.html}}</ref>
</references> <!-- ==Further reading== --> <!-- ==External links== -->
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{{Caudron aircraft}}
Category:Amphibious aircraft Category:1910s French military aircraft TL Category:Biplanes Category:Rotary-engined aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1913