• There seems to be an uptick in Political comments in recent months. Those of us who are long time members of the site know that Political and Religious content has been banned for years. Nothing has changed. Please leave all political and religious comments out of the forums.

    If you recently joined the forums you were not presented with this restriction in the terms of service. This was due to a conversion error when we went from vBulletin to Xenforo. We have updated our terms of service to reflect these corrections.

    Please note any post refering to a politician will be considered political even if it is intended to be humor. Our experience is these topics have a way of dividing the forums and causing deep resentment among members. It is a poison to the community. We appreciate compliance with the rules.

    The Staff of SOH

  • Server side Maintenance is done. We still have an update to the forum software to run but that one will have to wait for a better time.

The Ongoing Mystery Aircraft Thread Part Deux.

It looks as if it ought to be related to the Loire L-30. But if it is, I can't find a transport derivative that looks like the aeroplane in the picture. So I suspect that in thinking that it is French, I've led myself on a wild goose chase. Not the first time and, I suspect, it won't be the last!
 
Got it - I think! It's the Weymann-Lepère WEL 63 trimotor. About which there's not a lot to be found - beyond this old glass plate photograph of it.
 
Spot on PH! :very_drunk: Yup, the WEL 63 seems to have fallen through the cracks of time for the most part. Interesting design...almost looks like a powered glider. Can't imagine it was a pilot's dream to fly!
 
Nope, it's a 50 CV Anzani. This two seater aeroplane was quite advanced for 1931, being made entirely of metal. Although it was reviewed favourably, I don't think that it ever progressed beyond the prototype.
 
While it looks a tiny bit familiar, I think only a deep troll through the L'Aerophile archives would scare something up!
 
OK, maybe a three view will help?



Construction of this aeroplane commenced in 1929 at Rosny-sous-Bois in France. It made its first flight at Orly in late 1931. Its span was 11 m; its length was 6.80 m; its surface was 15 <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]-->m²; its AUP was 540 kg; its maximum speed was 145 km/hr; and its ceiling was 5000 m. I've not found any information of what became of it.
 
I think only a deep troll through the L'Aerophile archives would scare something up!

When I saw your trimotor photo on the previous page Moses, one of the first things I noticed was the word "collection". You see this a lot on Aviafrance...

102jrma.jpg


Then, looking at Wiki, I saw the Weymann name mentioned...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimotor

...but still couldn't see your machine illustrated in Aviafrance under Weymann. Aviafrance is not complete?

So, I guess I'm asking you PH, is yours described and illustrated in Aviafrance? That's pretty much my only French source.
 
Doubt this one is at Aviafrance (lots of gaps there). The previous Weymann is also non-documented.

While the tail has a Farman shape, I can't seem to track down PH's parasol.
 
No, Green, my aeroplane is not listed on the Aviafrance website. As John says, and without expressing any disrespect to the compiler of that website, it is far from a comprehensive list of the aircraft built and flown in France. As with many of the photographs I've posted, they come from contemporary sources and may not feature in present day publications and websites

Whilst the Aviafrance website gives extensive coverage of the products of the significant French commercial manufacturers, the same cannot be said for the smaller manufacturers and the amateur constructors. It is a matter of regret that there is not - at least as far as I am aware - a comprehensive encyclopaedia of aircraft manufactured and flown in France ( i.e. nothing similar to Jackson's 'British Civil Aircraft' and Ord-Hume's volumes on British light, commercial and private aircraft). However here I suspect that a major part of the problem is that much of the information relating to pre-war aircraft may have been lost during the German occupation of the country in WW2. However utilising what information is still available, I think that it should be possible to produce an encyclopaedic book or website that is more comprehensive than anything which, to the best of my knowledge, is available today - assuming there to be a market that justifies the cost of its production.

Anyhow, returning from the tangent off on which I've been, it does seem that my latest offering is unlikely to be identified. So I'll do so. It is the Peitz Type 101, also known as the Peitz Avionette (under which description I have, I now realise, used this one on another forum - sorry!). Open house, gentlemen.

p.s. with reference to the comments above, I should say that I've not yet read or acquired Roger Gaborieau's 'Aviation Légère en France 1920-1942' - but I've dropped unsubtle hints to my wife regarding birthday presents!
 
I've dropped unsubtle hints to my wife regarding birthday presents!

Sorry PH, I'm hoping she buys ya socks and undies! :untroubled:

This one is illustrated on the net..
 

Attachments

  • img339.jpg
    img339.jpg
    51.5 KB · Views: 7
Is that snow on the ground - which might help to narrow the possibilities for the location - or is it just that the photograph is overexposed?
 
It's in the USA from a manufacturer based in Pennsylvania, they produced a series of biplanes as trainers, observation planes, and light bombers for the U.S. Army and Navy. James "Mac" McDonnell was once a designer for them.

This is the floatplane version...
 

Attachments

  • img349.jpg
    img349.jpg
    57.8 KB · Views: 7
Back
Top