L.Opdyke French Aeroplanes Before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
Galvin
Little is known of the aeronautical work of Clement Galvin of Lyon, who nevertheless designed one of the most advanced, if not successful, seaplanes of his time. His first design was a small biplane with a 12 hp Anzani: tested in 1909, it did not fly. His second was a monoplane mentioned briefly in the late fall of 1911.
The third was the seaplane tested and probably not flown on the Saone River in October-November 1913. It had a highly-streamlined fuselage of circular section with a blunt round nose: the engine was mounted as on the Gallaudet seaplanes in the fuselage behind the wings, with the propeller turning amidships on a ring. The lower wing was set below the fuselage, the upper at shoulder height; the machine rested on a wide central float and 2 small tip floats, and the bottom of the fin was attached to the tail of the main float. The pilot sat on top, level with the leading edge of the top wings. A blurry photo shows it taxiing at high speed, the ring removed from the propeller, leaving a gap more than 2' long; it has French colors on the rudder.
W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters
GALVIN HC France
Of extraordinarily unorthodox configuration, the Galvin Hydravion de Chasse reportedly underwent flight testing from the Rhone in the summer of 1919. Of wooden construction with fabric skinning and a light alloy nose cone, the Galvin single-seat float fighter was an equi-span staggered single-bay biplane. Its fuselage consisted of two entirely separate elements with a gap between in which the propeller of a 160 hp Gnome nine-cylinder rotary engine rotated. Both forward and rear fuselage were individually supported by a remarkably long and broad central float, the former by paired N-struts and wire bracing, and the latter by I-struts fore and aft - the rearmost providing an attachment point for an inordinately large rudder - with wire bracing to the wings. Small stabilising floats were attached to the lower wing immediately beneath the V-type interplane struts. The intended armament of the Galvin fighter was allegedly three machine guns, but no records of the testing of this unique aircraft have survived.
Max speed, 124 mph (200 km/h) at sea level.
Endurance, 2.0 hrs.
Empty weight, 1,146 lb (520 kg).
Loaded weight, 1,764 lb (800 kg).
Span, 26 ft 3 in (8,00 m).
Length, 23 ft 7 1/2 in (7,20 m).
Height, 7 ft 6 1/2 in (2,30 m).
Wing area, 199.14 sqft (18,59 m2).