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::: THE PIONEER :::

Gabriel (Belleville/Saùne 1880 Ozenay 1973)
Charles (Lyon 1882 - Corcelles 1912)

Gabriel and Charles Voisin were among Europe's leading pioneer aviators. Gabriel began his formal aviation career in 1903 when he was engaged by a prominent French aeronautical promoter, Ernest Archdeacon, to build gliders for him.

In 1905 Gabriel formed the first commercial aircraft manufacturing company in Europe with the soon-to-be famous Louis Blériot. Numerous disputes between the two quickly arose, however, and Voisin bought out Blériot's interest in the venture in 1906

Gabriel immediately reformed the company with his brother Charles, thus establishing the highly successful Appareils d'Aviation Les Frères Voisin. The firm's first truly successful airplane appeared in 1907. The classic Voisin pusher biplane design of 1907

was one of the most significant aircraft of the pre-World War I era. Many of Europe's leading aviators flew the Voisin.

On January 13, 1908, Henri Farman made the first one-kilometer circuit in Europe with a Voisin biplane, winning a 50,000-franc prize and much acclaim for the Voisin product. By 1912, Les Frères Voisin had produced more than 75 airplanes that were based on the simple and sturdy 1907 design.

Henri Farman flies the first one-kilometer circuit, January 13, 1908

Copyright © 2000 NASMSI (National Air and Museum Smithsonian Institution)

In 1912, the Voisin brothers developed a version of their successful design for the military. Thereafter Compagnie Gabriel Voisin built aircraft almost exclusively for military contracts. The Voisin 1912 Type, as it was referred to by the French military, also sometimes identified as the Voisin Type 1, launched the standard configuration of almost all Voisin aircraft throughout the war. Designated the Type L by the Voisin factory, this seminal airplane was an equal-span biplane with no dihedral, with a short streamlined nacelle carrying the crew of two in front and an 80-horsepower Le Rhône 9C engine at the rear.

A cruciform tail was attached to the wings with a set of booms, and it had a quadricycle landing gear. A second pre-war military design, similar to the Type L, powered by a 70-horsepower Gnome 7A engine, was produced in 1913. Although they were largely obsolete by the start of the war, the sturdiness and the reliability of these, and subsequent, Voisin aircraft (models 1-10 Ed.) enabled them to form the backbone of the French night bomber force until late in 1918. Over 3500 were built

Les Frères Voisin was conservative in its design philosophy. There were only slight, incremental design changes in the airframes during the war. Improvement in performance of the successive types was made principally by installing more powerful engines, usually necessitating wings of greater span. The first wartime version, the Voisin 3, powered by a 120-horsepower Salmson M9 engine, had a range of 200 km (125 mi), carrying a bomb load of 150 kg (330 lb). The 1918 Voisin 10 by comparison, which in outward appearance looked much like the Voisin 3, had a range of 350 km (220 mi) with a bomb load of 300 kg (660). The 280-horsepower Renault 12Fe engine of the Voisin 10 gave it a maximum speed of 135 kph (84 mph) at 2,000 m (6,562 ft) altitude, 37 kph (23 mph) faster than the Voisin Type 3 at the same altitude.

During the war, the Voisin pusher series performed a variety of missions, including reconnaissance, artillery spotting, training, day and night bombing, and ground attack. The first recorded armed aerial victory of the war occurred on October 5, 1914, when a French pilot and his observer, flying a Voisin 3, downed a German Aviatik B.1 with bullets fired from a Hotchkiss machine gun.

The Voisin Type 3 is also notable in having equipped the first dedicated bomber units. Voisin Type 3 units staged a retaliatory attack against the Badische Anilin Gesellschaft at Ludwigshaven, Germany, on May 26, 1915, shortly after the German Army introduced poison gas in battle. Successful daytime attacks on targets within Germany ensued, but by 1916 the Voisin Type 3 and its immediate successors became vulnerable to new, better performing, German fighters. (The Voisin Type 4 was similar to the Type 3, but was fitted with a 47 mm cannon and used primarily for ground strafing. The Types 5 and 6 were virtually the same as the Type 3, except that they had more powerful Salmson engines.)

The Voisins were slow and with their pusher configuration they were defenseless from the rear. Despite these limitations, these rugged and reliable aircraft still had a role to play. Voisins were used as trainers and for night missions for the remainder of the war. Voisin pusher aircraft were supplied to, or built under license by, twelve countries, including Britain, Russia, Italy, and the United States.

The Voisin Type 1 but also known as the Voisin 1912 Type or Voisin Type L, was the first aircraft to shoot down another aircraft, a German Aviatik biplane on 5 October 1914, but they were mostly used as bombers. The machine gun of the Voisin I was replaced by 37mm or 47mm cannon in later versions.

Voision Type 1

It was also known as the 'Chicken Coop' because of its profusion of struts and wires. It was powered by an 80-horsepower engine and could carry 130 pounds (58 kilograms) of bombs to be hand dropped overboard by the machine gunner/bombardier.

The Voisin Type 3, was the first wartime version, powered by a 120-horsepower Salmson M9 engine, had a range of 200 km (125 mi), carrying a bomb load of 150 kg (330 lb). The Voisin Type 3 is also notable in having equipped the first dedicated bomber units. Voisin Type 3 units staged a retaliatory attack against the Badische Anilin Gesellschaft at Ludwigshaven, Germany, on May 26, 1915, shortly after the German Army introduced poison gas in battle. Successful daytime attacks on targets within Germany ensued, but by 1916 the Voisin Type 3 and its immediate successors became vulnerable to new, better performing, German fighter

Voisin Type 3, Kitset by Flashback (1/72 scale)

Voisin Type 3 LAS

[ Note that with Type 3 and 5 there are conflicting naming references to the (1) Type #, (2) Type L, (3) Type# LA and (4) Type #LAS. The data presented here comes from the individual sources and will be further researched tp present a more accurate table of machine order and nomenclature. It is known for example that the S stood for surélevé (raised) which indicated the use of a raised engine mount. More to come - Ed. Feb.02]

Voisin Type 3 LAS, Profile

Voisin Type 5, also known as the 'Voisin 150hp'

The Voisin Type 3 had proved a successful bomber, but its payload was limited by the Salmson M9 engine, which produced only 120-hp. The Aviation Militaire wished to obtain a more powerful airplane but with the concours puissant (competition for a heavy bomber) not due to take place until mid-1915, it was decided to produce a Voisin Type 3 with a new engine.

A Voisin Type 3 airframe was fitted with a 150-hp Salmson P9 engine, and the airframe was strengthened and the central nacelle streamlined. The new engine was placed on a raised platform to provide clearance for the propeller and was angled to provide downward thrust. The landing gear was strengthened and the wing chord was increased from the roots to the wing tips.

The new aircraft was given the STAé designation Voisin Type 5, while the factory designation was LAS. The S stood for surélevé (raised) which indicated the raised engine mount. While the exhaust system on the Voisin Type 3 permitted fumes to escape freely, that of the Voisin Type 5 ejected the fumes upward through two exhaust pipes.

One Voisin Type 5 was transformed into a twin-engine aircraft in 1916. This was accomplished by adding a second Salmson in the front of the fuselage driving a tractor propeller. it is believed this was done to test a possible configuration for a new bomber planned by Voisin. The twin-engine Voisin Type 5 first flew in early 1916; apparently the type was not developed further.

The first Voisin Type 5 reached VB 101 in 1915 and soon replaced the Voisin Type 3 on the production lines. However, the Voisins 150hp (as they were referred to at the front) were held in low regard by their crews. Despite the more powerful engine, the Voisin Type 5s' payload was only marginally better and the maximum speed was only 13 km/h faster. Approximately 300 Voisin Type 5s were built, and these served alongside the Voisin Type 3s in front-line escadrilles during 1915 and well into 1916.

Voisin Type 3, Profile


Voisin Type 5, 'Avion Cannon', 37mm cannon

Voisin Type 8
Copyright © 2000 NASMSI

The Voisin Type 8 entered service with French night bombing squadrons in November 1916. (The Type 7 was a transitional model of which only about a hundred were built.) The Type 8 was intended to be powered by a 300-horsepower Hispano-Suiza engine, nearly double the output of the 155-horsepower Salmson used on the Type 6. But the Hispanso-Suizas were not available in sufficient numbers, and a 220-horsepower Peugeot 8 Aa inline was substituted. To accommodate the bulkier and heavier Peugeot, the Type 8 required an enlarged and strengthened fuselage, and greater wingspan. It was fitted with either a single machine gun or a 37 mm cannon.

The new engine provided a nominal increase in performance over the Voisin Type 6 while carrying the same bomb load of 180 kg (396 lb); but it was unreliable. Voisin then developed the Type 10, which combined a lighter and more powerful 280-horsepower Renault 12Fe engine with the Type 8 airframe. The Type 10, with improved range, speed, and bomb load, replaced the Voisin Type 8 early in 1918. (Only one Type 9 was built. It was a modified Type 8 with 160-horsepower 8G engine intended for reconnaissance.)