What else do you have on Marcel Leyat's aircraft designs? There seems to be confusion on his early gliders - including as to where they were built. Wiki wrongly claims that both were built while Leyat was employed by the Société Astra. Leyat's first glider, at least, was actually built in the Summer of 1909 closer to his family home in the Die commune (Drôme, SE France). [1] That biplane glider - known as Quand Même (Regardless) - was constructed by the furniture manufacturer, Audra of Die.
The Quand Même was an open-framed, twin-boomed biplane. Lateral control surfaces were mounted between the equal-span wings. These interplane controls were referred to generically as gouvernails (so they may not have functioned exactly like ailerons). Other than the 3-bay open-frame booms, there was no fuselage to speak of (ie, there was no pod, etc.). Landing gear was a simple skid. Together, the Marcel Leyat had his first glider built It is a glider intended to be launched with a winch. Together, the furniture manufacturer Audray and Marcel Leyat founded the Société des Aéroplanes Leyat. It would be over two years before Marcel Leyat graduated as an engineer from l'Ecole des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. So why is it assumed that the Société Astra would have hired Leyat prior to 1911? [2]
Originally, it was intended that the Quand Même glider would to be launched with a winch. And this brings up another area of confusion (at least for me). Diagrams of Quand Même are labelled as "Aeroplane Leyat type No. 2" and described as "vol remorque". Other labels make clear that the glider was to take off from a kind of trolley on wheels while being towed behind a "7 HP" automobile. [3] Yet many sources claim that the second biplane glider was powered by a 5 cv 'Dion' engine.
I would contend that there are two confused elements here. The first is that the second biplane was not some form of motor-glider, rather it was towed into the air behind a 5 hp (or 7 hp) de Dion automobile. The second element is a conflation of two separate stories - those of the second 1909 glider and a quite different powered biplane of 1910.
That 1910 powered biplane had a 16.00 m span and was 11:00 m long. Behind the pilot was a single, pusher engine (hard to tell in photos but perhaps an Anzani 3-cylinder 'fan' radial? -edit: actually a 50 hp Gnome). More relevant to the story is that the (presumeably unnamed) 1910 powered biplane was constructed at Bétheny in the Marne. (Bétheny was also the location of Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie ... although that may just be coincidence.) But note that the Société Astra des Constructions Aéronautiques was based at Villacoublay - 140 km to the West of Bétheny. My problem is, I don't know when Leyat joined the Société Astra (where he was connected with the Astra-Torres A.T.18 - aka Astra XIV or Astra 14 - airship). But, AFAIK, Leyat left Astra sometime in 1913.
I'm more than a little sketchy on Leyat's bio. Does anyone have access to L'Aérophile, 35e année, Nos. 9-10 (1er-15 mai 1927)? On page 130, as part of their Aviateurs contemporains series, there is a brief biography of Marcel Leyat (but quite unreadable on my copy).
French Wiki claims that Leyat built 'several' aircraft - including "un bombardier à « aile vivante »" during WWI. The latter, at least, is incorrect. Leyat studied a bomber design in 1917 but the comission des avions nouveaux wasn't interested in his design. The concept sounds rather like his 1913 aéroplane à ailes mobiles concept realized in his 1924 Dorand AR.2 'incaptoble' conversion. Leyat also proposed a propeller-driven military liaison vehicle concept later realized as his civilian avion-voiture. Late in the war, capitaine Leyat was assigned to the Section Technique de l'Aéronautique (STAé) where he designed and tested propellers - which led to his 1919 employment at Levasseur and the Hélica.
Another question mark for me is Leyat's towed training glider for the Association Française Aérienne. I suspect that this AFA glider also remained an unbuilt project. Does this concept simply lead to the 'live wing' Tringueballage prototype. In other words, is there any relationship between the (unbuilt?) AFA glider and the various Leyat-Jacquemin 'live wing' concepts?
Leyat-Jacquemin avionette - 1934 single-seat parasol ultralight
- Leyat-Jacquemin: 1 x 25 hp Poinsard HO2 tractor, span 11.30 m
- Leyat-Jacquemin: Live wing ("L'avion à ailes vivantes")
-- Prototype only, certification finally received 1938, no production
_______________________________
[1] Some sources say "Dès 1908 ...", so Leyat may well have begun construction on his glider the year before the Summer of its completion.
[2] Incidentally, the same year that Marcel Leyat received his FAI brevet. BTW, the designer was released from military service so that he could work for Astra. A similarly-named caporal Marcel Leyat of SAL 18 was unrelated, AFAIK. (Caporal Leyat - a mitrailleur on a Salmson 2A2 - was killed along with pilot brigadier Jean Faur on 16 May 1918.)
[3] On 15 August 1909, Marcel Leyat used this auto-towed launch method to fly his biplane glider 200 m at 10 m above the ground.