| Caudron C.68 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Touring and sport aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Caudron |
| Designer | Paul Deville |
| Number built | 6 |
| History | |
| First flight | 1922 |
| Developed from | Caudron C.67 |
TheCaudron C.68 was a two-seatFrenchtraining and touring aircraft, built in the early 1920s, which attracted interest at the time because of its simple and fast wing folding arrangement. Only a few were produced.
Apart from its folding wings, the C.68 was a conventionalsingle bay biplane with rectangular plan wings of similar span, mounted withoutstagger.Ailerons were fitted only on the upper wings. The outerinterplane struts were in parallel pairs and the upper wing was supported over thefuselage on four uprightcabane struts. The forward pair of these were unusual in extending down to the lower fuselagelongerons and in being split vertically; the inner halves linked the centre section and fuselage and the outer halves were extra interplane struts. To fold the wings a short section of the centre sectiontrailing edge was folded back to make room for the part of the upper wing aft of its hinge and the lower, outer, normally concealed part of the cabane/interplane strut swung out of its slot in the fuselage. The rear part of the lower wing cleared the fuselage underside. The aileron cables ran within the wing and did not need to be disconnected for folding thanks to wires that prevented them slackening.[1][2]
The C.68 was powered by a 37 kW (50 hp)Anzani 6-cylinder two rowradial engine, mounted without acowling and driving a two bladepropeller. Behind the engine the fuselage was flat sided, though the underside had a curved profile and there was curved upper decking. It had two opencockpits, one under the wing and the second just aft of the trailing edge. The C.68'sfin was triangular and broad, carrying a vertical edgedunbalanced rudder which extended down to the keel. Itstailplane was mounted on top of the fuselage with itselevators notched to allow rudder movement. It had atailskid undercarriage with its mainwheels on a single 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in) long axle sprung on two V-form struts from the lower fuselage longerons.[1]
Folding and deploying the wings was straightforward and rapid, taking less than four minutes. Folding began by pinning on a tailskid extension to keep the lower wings off the ground. This extension could also link the folded C.68 behind a car for towing. The C.68's folded width was less than its 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) height.[1][2]
The C.68 was first flown in 1922[1] and was on display at the 1922 Paris Salon, which opened on 15 December.[2] Another C.68 was flown to Paris by Becheler who landed it in front of the Grand Palais on 16 December 1922, then gave a demonstration of its folding wings.[1][3]
Four C.68s appeared on the French Civil Register.[4] In total six C.68s were built, of which a single example survives ad is in airworthy condition.[5]
Data from Hauet (2001) pp.172-3[1]
General characteristics
Performance
