The Canard Voisin was a plane developed by Gabriel and Charles Voisin in 1910. Original in design, with its main wings positioned at the back, the Canard Voisin was a very popular aircraft during the first decades of the 20th century. With the addition of floats, it also became the first seaplane of the French Navy. Henry Farman, left, and Gabriel Voisin. ... A DeHavilland Single Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery. ... The French Navy (Marine Nationale) is the maritime arm of the French military and the largest Western European navy in terms of personnel. ...

Land version

The Canard Voisin expanded on a design previously experimented by Alberto Santos-Dumont with his 14-bis airplane, in which the main wings were placed at the aft of the aircraft in order to facilitate horizontal control and stability at landing. At the front, a small horizontal stabilizer was installed. The plane, named "Canard" because of its aft-heavy shape, was successfully tested by Maurice Colliex at Issy-les-Moulinaux between March and May 1910. The Canard was equipped with a 60HP Anzani radial engine (among others). Santos-Dumont in his trademark Panama hat. ... For the Brazilian band, see 14 Bis (Band) The 14-bis, also known as Oiseau de proie (French for bird of prey), was an early fixed-wing aircraft designed and built by Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont. ...

Seaplane version

Canard Voisin seaplane under trial on the Seine, on August 3, 1911. The head of the plane is on the right.

The first seaplane carrier, the French La Foudre (right, with hangar and crane), with one of her Canard Voisin seaplanes, during tactical exercises in June 1912.

In the meantime, Henri Fabre successfully flew a seaplane, the Canard (also canard-shaped), for the first time in history, by having it take-off and land without trouble. His floats, developed by engineer Bonnelaison, were patented by Fabre. La Foudre was a French seaplane carrier, and arguably the first seaplane carrier in history [1]. Her development followed the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French Le Canard. ... In aeronautics, canard (French for duck) is a type of fixed-wing aircraft in which the tailplane is ahead of the main lifting surfaces, rather than behind them as in conventional aircraft, or when there is an additional small set of wings in front of the main lifting surface. ...

Eager to try flying a seaplane as well, Voisin purchased several of the Fabre floats and fitted them to his Canard airplane. In October 1910, the Canard-Voisin became the first seaplane to fly over the river Seine. The Seine (pronounced in French) is a major river of north-western France, and one of its commercial waterways. ...

The new Canard Voisin, equiped with four Fabre floats and six wheels fixed underneath, thus became the first amphibious seaplane to fly. It weighed 650 kg, plus 230 kg for the floats.

One of the Canard Voisin planes was bought by the Navy in March 1912 to equip the seaplane tender La Foudre (the first seaplane carrier in history). La Foudre was a French seaplane carrier, and arguably the first seaplane carrier in history [1]. Her development followed the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French Le Canard. ...

External links

• Flights of Maurice Colliex on the Canard Voisin
• Les Canards de Gabriel Voisin (HTML), PDF file with images