March 1913 – A New Monoplane for the Navy

The Aeroplane – Thursday March 20 1913

In March 1913, the navy purchased the French Borel monoplane. It had first appeared in February 1913.

The Aeroplane. February 20, 1913.

[Note – some of the even numbered pages in this edition are wrongly dated 1912!]

The Borel Monoplane.

(Aerodrome de Chateaufort, Buc.)

Messrs. Borel show a two-seated hydro-monoplane of standard type. The Borel firm, since its entry into the field of design and instruction in the beginning of 1911, have progressed until now they are in the first rank of manufacturers.

The Borel monoplane has as a land machine many excellent feats in its record, and as a hydro-monoplane has flown among the first few at several meetings. The Italian Government, ever discriminating in its purchases, has ordered seventeen Borel hydro-monoplanes for use in the Italian Navy. Several of these have already been delivered. They were piloted through their tests over the Adriatic by M. Chemet, who is in charge of the stand at Olympia.

The monoplane shown is two-seated, with a covered-in fuselage. The engine fitted is an 80-h.p. Gnome with a strong steel front bearing and cowl, the latter streamlining the motor.

The two floats under the main planes are of simple design without steps and are placed widely apart. A third small flatbottomed float is fixed under the tail. The distribution of these floats gives a high degrees of stability even on rough water.
The wing stay wires are attached to brackets at the point where the chassis struts join the floats. This method gives a directness of bracing almost unrivalled on any machine. In every case a wire and a cable run together from point to point.

Dual control is fitted, the pilot sitting in the front seat under normal conditions. The wings are cut away from the fuselage, fore and aft, that a better range of vision may be given.

The system of control adopted is that popularly known as the Bleriot type, though the “cloche” which gave it its familiar name has disappeared.

The fuselage and strut are painted pale blue. As a light, fast scouting aeroplane of high speed and considerable airworthiness, the Borel monoplane is in the first rank.

The new Borel hydro-monoplane recently purchased by the Navy, doing its test flights on the Seine prior to coming to England. The machine is here shown taking to the water, getting off, and alighting.

The Borel monoplane appeared at Port Laing in January 1914.