Borel military monoplane

Borel Military Type Monoplane
General information
Type	Anti-balloon fighter
Manufacturer	Etablissements Borel
Number built	1
History
First flight	1913

The Borel military monoplane (company designation: Bo.14) was a French single-engine, two-seat aircraft designed shortly before World War I in response to a French Army requirement for an aircraft to seek and destroy enemy balloon airships.

Design and development

The Military Monoplane had an unconventional design, owing to its unique mission requirement. The pilot and observer sat side by side in an open cockpit within a pod or nacelle that also carried a high monoplane wing and the engine driving a pusher propeller. The pod also featured windows on each side, near the crew members' feet to facilitate downwards visibility when hunting balloons. A cruciform empennage was carried on an open truss of triangular cross-section, the upper longeron of which passed through the propeller hub. Despite reportedly good flying characteristics, the idea never passed beyond the construction of a single prototype.

Specifications

Rear view showing the pusher propeller arrangement.

General characteristics

• Crew: two, pilot and observer
• Length: 7.52 m (24 ft 8 in)
• Wingspan: 11.58 m (38 ft 0 in)
• Height: 3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 19.1 m² (205 sq ft)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome air-cooled rotary piston engine , 37 kW (50 hp)

Performance

Bibliography

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 193.
• "Flightglobal Archive"., archived at: The Wayback Machine
• Aero and Hydro September 13, 1913