L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
But Dorand was working along other lines as well, and more efficient ones. Though studying propellers, he was likely to have been involved in Gaudard's and Legrand's experiments on a Voisin. In 1910 at the military aviation laboratory at Chalais-Meudon he built his biplan-laboratoire. This, his most famous design, could be considered one of the most outstanding achievements of pre-WWI aviation. A classic biplane with staggered wings, forward elevators supported by skids as on the Maurice Farman, a tractor propeller and biplane tail unit, it was powered by a 60 hp air-cooled Renault. Dorand used it as a flying test-bed for wings and propellers, so it was constantly being modified. Basic equipment included a venturi to measure airspeed, a flexible engine mounting to study dynamometric balance, an electric tachometer, an hydraulic measuring-box, and various glass levels filled with tinted water to check speed, pitch, and roll - and a camera to take pictures of them all!
In 1912 Dorand designed his biplan de place forte (fortress biplane) similar to the laboratory biplane. The crew of 2 sat in a short covered nacelle behind a flat-mounted water-cooled Salmson driving a tractor propeller though a shaft. This aircraft was later equipped with a wireless set.