Marcel Leyat
was a French inventor who built propeller-driven cars beginning in 1913 (some
30 of them, with two still existing!) His most famous model, Hélica, was
also known as "the plane without wings".
Parlez-Vous Français?
This web
site has photos, references, and other information about Marcel Leyat and
his propeller-driven vehicles (both cars and aircraft) One such automobile was
still in running condition about six years ago, and was demonstrated at Goodwood
Race Track in the U.K. The Web site is in French; the English section seems to
have some problems, and most linked articles are not available that way.
Leyat's cars had rear-wheel steering, and his planes
had tilting wings. If I read it right,
he was attempting to make the airplanes stall-proof. Can anyone translate "incapotable"?
The picture
above (top left) is the 1921 Leyat Hélica "Sport" model. It appears to have been revised several
times, losing the horizontal stabilizer in one rebuild, having a windshield
added (for the rear-seat passenger only!), and so on. Apparently, it advertised a crème or lotion called
"La Gellicyne" ("For the Hands. For the Face") at some point. That advertising
is still on it today in a museum.
Aérophile Images
Marcel Leyat's
airplanes seem to be at least as bizarre as his cars. It appears that the
entire wing structure, a pair of trusses flanking the fuselage, and the pair of
elevators mounted to the trusses, all pivot as a unit relative to the fuselage.
A set of angled struts come together there. Pictures of other Leyat designs
include very similar features; some are shown in two positions in adjacent
photos. The pivot point appears to be at the center of mass of the aircraft. These
two were published in Aérophile
in 1924.
Editor's Note:
CR4 would like to thank Ron Darner for sharing this story. A longtime CR4er,
Ron is also the newsletter editor for Chapter 320 (Watertown, Wisconsin)
of the Experimental Aircraft Organization (EAA). If you'd like to subscribe to
Ron's newsletter, click here to send him a private message on CR4.
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