Caudron C.109

C.109
	Caudron C.109 F-PFLN airworthy at Mitry-Mory airfield near Paris in May 1957
Role	Utility aircraft
Manufacturer	Caudron
First flight	May 1925
Number built	24

The Caudron C.109 was a light utility aircraft built in France in the late 1920s.

Design and development

The C.109 was a parasol-winged braced monoplane of conventional configuration with fixed tailskid undercarriage. The pilot and single passenger sat in tandem open cockpits. C.109s were used in a number of record attempts of the day,^[1] and were used to set distance records in the under 350 kg class of 868 km on 19 May 1927 (piloted by Juste Thoret), and 1,581 km on 27 October 1927 (piloted by Max Knipping), a women's duration record of 26 hours 47 minutes on 27 July 1929 (piloted by Maryse Bastié), and the first crossing of Mediterranee by a woman, Léna Bernstein (19 August 1929), 2,268 km.^[1]

Survivors

At least one aircraft survived to fly postwar, F-PFLN, F-AIQI prewar, being airworthy at Mitry-Mory airfield near Paris in 1957. This aircraft is held in the collection of the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace at Le Bourget but is not currently on public display.

Variants

C.109: Two-seat light utility aircraft.^[2]
C.109.2: One surviving C.109 was fitted with an 63 kW (85 hp) Salmson 5Aq radial engine.
C.110: Only two aircraft were built. Fitted with a 45 kW (60 hp) Salmson 5AC radial engine.^[1]^[3]
C.113: A development of the C.110, powered by a 60 hp (45 kW) Anzani 6A-3 engine.^[4]
C.114: Fitted with an Anzani 6-cylinder radial engine.^[1]
C.117: Fitted with a 45 kW (60 hp) Salmson 5Ac radial engine.^[1]^[5]

Operators

France

French Air Force

Specifications (C.109)

Caudron C.109 3-view drawing from L'Aéronautique October,1927

Data from Les Avions Caudrons,^[1] Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928^[6]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 6.44 m (21 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 11.50 m (37 ft 9 in)
Height: 2.53 m (8 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 19.14 m² (206.0 sq ft)
Empty weight: 328 kg (723 lb)
Gross weight: 572 kg (1,261 lb)
Fuel capacity: 653 kg (1,440 lb) (ca. 460 L (120 US gal; 100 imp gal))
Powerplant: 1 × Salmson 9AD 9-cylinder engine, 30 kW (40 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 122.5 km/h (76.1 mph, 66.1 kn) at sea level
Endurance: 4 hours
Time to altitude: 500 m (1,600 ft) in 8 minutes
Power/mass: 0.0649 kW/kg (0.0395 hp/lb)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hauet, André (2001). Les Avions Caudrons. Vol. 1. Outreau: Lela Presse. pp. 196–209. ISBN 2 914017-08-1.
^ Parmentier, Bruno. "Caudron C.109". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
^ Parmentier, Bruno. "Caudron C.110". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
^ Parmentier, Bruno. "Caudron C.113". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
^ Parmentier, Bruno. "Caudron C.117". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
^ Grey, C.G., ed. (1928). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1928. London: Sampson Low, Marston & company, ltd. pp. 95c–96c.

Bibliography

Moulin, Jacques & Cony, Christophe (May 2001). "L'aviation était toute sa vie: Léna Bernstein" [Aviation was Her Whole Life: Léna Bernstein]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (98): 59–60. ISSN 1243-8650.