Форум Breguet's Aircraft Challenge

This aircraft is the Westphal Taube of early 1914 with 100 hp Mercedes.
   It was designed by Paul Westphal, one of the constant present constructors at the old launching site at the airfield Berlin-Johannisthal.
   He was a co-designer of the early Geest planes and set up his own "business" when he rented shed 8 at Johannisthal in 1911. In 1912 he completed his first monoplane.
   This Taube was his second design that he built after the guidelines of the army.
   It passed the tests easily but was not bought. So he gave up his own attempts and went to the Kondor Flugzeugwerke GmbH at Essen, Rhineland before summer 1914 where he became chief engineer then.

   As reported in Flugsport Vol. VI (1914) No.7 (April 1) p. 267 ---
   The Westphal-Monoplane. The machine - designed by Westphal - still clung in appearance to the typical wing of the Dove, the Zanonia-form. The construction of the wing though was quite different from the standard Dove wing construction.
   The Westphal-Monoplane is provided with a 6 cylinder Mercedes engine of 100 hp. The monoplane was tested by the pilot Stiploschek, specifically in altitude tests.
   On March 3, 1914 the monoplane reached a height of 1000 m in 7 3/4 minutes, with the pilot Krieger and Westphal as passenger and a payload of 300 kg.
   Start was within 56 m and landing within 35 m (!). Empty weight is 650 kg, span 13 1/4 m, total length 9 1/4 m. Westphal built the fuselage, landing gear, rudder/elevator and wing bars from steel ('Stahl').
   The Westphal Monoplane successfully passed the military acceptance tests in Doberitz with an extra load of 50 kg. The Nationalflugspende [a national action to stimulate flying - initiated in 1912 to finance aviation and the flying weeks ('Flugwochen')], see further here presented an engine to try in the machine.