Coanda 1917 [Coanda SIA Dellaunay-Belleville 1917 (No. 4B)]

[PALG]

This model depicts another forward-thinking, technically complex but unsuccessful design from aviation-innovator extraordinaire, Henri Coanda - the Coanda 1917 single-seat biplane.

Alas, no Coanda jet engines, but his trademark vision is evident in abundance.  I hope u like it and that Coanda fans - there are many of us... - kind of get where i am coming from. A very long backstory follows the pics.

Images

My album for this one is here:  http://s257.photobucket.com/user/PALG/library/Coanda%201917?sort=3&page=1

Here's a few of them (EDIT: These are not appearing and i dont know how to rectify - i dropped the urls in, as instructed...):









Backstory

The (Coanda SIA Dellaunay-Belleville 1917 (No. 4B)) was the companion design of Coanda's No. 4 bomber design from the same collaboration.

This smaller single-engine, aero-torpedo tail-pusher was conceived as a fighter design and, like each of Coanda's independent designs since 1911, it was a very experimental design much influenced by the Paulhan-Tatin Aero-Torpille of 1911.

Coanda was clearly much taken with that aircraft, following its debut at the Paris Air Salon, as is evident in his 1912 canard design (which, however, would have driven an amidships propeller rather than a tail prop) and the Coanda SIA Dellaunay-Belleville 1916 (No. 4). The Aero-Torpille clearly also influenced other designers, evident in craft like the Kasyanenko KPI-5 of 1916.

For both his 1916 bomber and 1917 fighter designs, Coanda adopted the aero torpedo design of a pusher-driven, bullet-nosed aircraft as the perfect complement to those other trademark Coanda traits – the never-ending quest to squeeze as much efficiency as possible from both aerodynamic form and airflow.  Like all of Coanda's independent efforts it wedded a vision ahead of its time to the inferior materials of the early-20th century.

The two designs were clearly siblings and shared many features in common, including: engine placement embedded in the mid-fuselage behind the cockpit – allowing the aerodynamic nose design and excellent forward view for the pilot -  with an extended drive shaft to a tail spinner; the torpedo styling utilising the same fuselage construction technique; and an identical wing design.  Embedding the wing in the fuselage complemented the nose design and cockpit placement to provide the pilot with a good field of vision.  

A significant difference between the two designs was the re-appearance of Coanda's much-loved cruciform empennage, which he had not used in a built design since the Coanda Twin of 1911. As with that flown aircraft, the benefits or disadvantages of this empennage are unknown.

The Coanda 1917 did not enjoy the early promise of its sibling bomber design. Typically, it exhibited Coanda's characteristic vision and determination to perfect airflow and performance. However, the realisation failed to impress.  It was overweight and underpowered, and handled poorly.  Coanda's determination to incorporate the same Hispano-Suiza powerplant that drove the Spad XIII series while preserving the mid-fuselage placement and torpedo styling, resulted in a squat design that failed to capitalise on the aerodynamic form he so cherished.  Test flights revealed the aircraft to be a steady platform in unchallenging conditions but lacking the power and manoeuvrability essential for a fighter craft, and prone to overheating.

In addition, there was the technical complexity of the design which worked against any serious consideration by the French military.  Engine placement made the powerplant difficult to access and maintain, and Coanda employed a highly experimental Lamblin radiator prototype that was clearly inadequate in anything other than gentle flight.  In addition, like similar designs such as the Russian Kasyanenko KPI-5, pilots disliked the unfamiliar and counter-intuitive techniques required to land the plane without striking the tail propeller.

Finally, Coanda was unable to resolve machine gun placement issues in good time.  His original plan called for twin guns placed on the underside of the nose, and he installed an attachment point for this purpose.  Locating the guns beyond pilot reach was ahead of its time, and there was no automatic weapon reliable enough to vindicate this wishful thinking.  Coanda himself proposed an ammunition feeding system that he hoped would eliminate jamming and reloading issues, but evolution of the concept never got that far.

Delauney-Belleville responded to the early scepticism of test pilots and the disinterest of the French War Ministry by withdrawing support for the design.  

Like all Coanda's designs, persistence and funding to support further development may have resulted in an evolved design that would have realised Coanda's impressive design vision.

Instead, the prototype disappeared from view and its whereabouts are unknown.

The aircraft is depicted here in aluminium doping with French markings.


Construction

The model is supposed to be - approximately – 1:72, though it will look oversized against any 1:72 WWI fighter kit.

The base kit was Revell's MiniKit LZ-29 Hindenburg for the fuselage.  The existing tail fins were sanded down to within an inch of their lives to act as attachments points for scratch built fins – I can't recall the width but it may have been two pieces of 0.5 mm styrene, joined along the outer edges and slipped over the kit's modified fins and glued in place.

Wings were from Academy's 1:72 Sopwith Camel – reversed in configuration so that the lower wing provided the upper wing, which very neatly enable a frontal profile almost  identical to the Coanda SIA Dellaunay-Belleville 1916 (No. 4).  The Camel's upper wing was shortened by a few centimetres, re-joined and attached to form the lower wing.  

The undercarriage was from Revell's 1: 72 SPAD XIII C-1, as were the engine exhaust pipes and the propeller.  I added the tail cone by modifying the Hindenburg's tail cone so that it could cap the SPAD propeller.

I scratched the tail skid, and the 'Lamblin' experimental radiator was scratched entirely from Evergreen rods of variable gauge.  

The air vents in the engine cowling are just very small piece of styrene strip.[/img]

[PALG]

OK, I'm stumped with these images.  Any advice would be much appreciated - do i need to amend the urls someway before i drop them into the html provided when i select the image button ?

Clueless here.

[NARSES2]

Right when I post from Photobucket I do the following

I go to "View library" within Photobucket

Each photo then gives me two choices under each image - Direct and IMG

I move my mouse over IMG, left click mouse and it highlites in blue

Copy the code

Simply paste the code here, you don't need to use any of the above icons.

It should read - URL=http://s10.photobucket.com/user/............................................................[/img][/URL with square brackets at the beginning and end of the code

Any problems drop me a PM and I'll try to help. I've had a look at one of your pics and the model looks great  

[NARSES2]

Right when I post from Photobucket I do the following

I go to "View library" within Photobucket

Each photo then gives me two choices under each image - Direct and IMG

I move my mouse over IMG, left click mouse and it highlites in blue

Copy the code

Simply paste the code here, you don't need to use any of the above icons.

It should read - URL=http://s10.photobucket.com/user/............................................................[/img][/URL with square brackets at the beginning and end of the code. If I try and inc. those the system gets confused

Any problems drop me a PM and I'll try to help. I've had a look at one of your pics and the model looks great  

[Captain Canada]

The little cog in the corner of the pic takes you to the links. Or the bottom link to the right of each individual pic ( img ) is the one you want.

[Captain Canada]

Beautiful little model btw ! Love the shape...I bet she would have been quite the machine ! Just needs some roundels and a few guns now 

[PALG]

Huge thanks to you both for this explanation; i could see something was different from the last time i posted images (a while ago) but i had no idea how to spot the solution.

the pics i intended to post were:














So, this was not an exercise in modelling skill (cant crack that 1:72...) as much as it realising a concept. nonetheless, a handful of construction pics can be seen in the Photobucket album.

Machine guns - the key reason Coanda couldnt realise his advanced gun placement solution was because I didnt sort it out myself ... the kitbashed guns available were way too off-scale to look appropriate on this fuselage, while scratching machine guns in 1:72 seemed too problematic for the limited opportunities I have to work on models.  They were to have been affixed to the underside node below the cockpit (the gondola on the Hindenburg donor kit). 

[NARSES2]

Once you get the hang of posting pics it's easy, before you get the hang of it, it's 

Glad you sorted it

[kitbasher]

I always thought Coanda was north of the USA.

[PR19_Kit]

I always thought Coanda was north of the USA.

The mind BOGGLES!

[CSMO]

  Right out of the pulp fiction books and comics from the '20s and '30s. Well done, sir!. Adios, Larry.

[kitbasher]

There is definitely something Metropolis about it.

I can easily imagine it appearing in one of the cityscape scenes.

[Father Ennis]

Very Kool !!! 

[Tophe]

Pleasantly odd

[TomZ]

Very very good!   

TomZ