Breguet's Aircraft ID Challenge #205

[Varese2002]

Breguet's Aircraft Challenge # 205

This one looks strangely familiar



Kees

Hello. Isn't that the Sopwith 'Sociable'?

[Ross_Moorhouse]

Sopwith Tabloid.

[Der Grüne Flieger]

Ross,

I pulled this picture of a Tabloid from; http://www.wwiaviation.com/british1914.html

It seems our plane has an extra set of interplane struts. Could it be some type of prototype for another Sopwith machine. What is that on the fuselage after the cockpit?

Phil

[Der Grüne Flieger]

I can't find a picture, but I've read about an SS3. Could this be one?

Phil

[Patrick]

Sopwith Bat Boat No. 1.

Just kidding!

It's a Lebed VIII. In the finest tradition of Russian aeronautical engineering, a derivitive of a first-generation bootleg design based on the Tabloid (called the Lebed VII), by Vladimir Lebedev.

The Lebed VII was an almost line-for-line copy of a production Tabloid, one of which was supplied by Sopwith -- without license to build -- to Lebedev in July 1914. Used in miniscule numbers by the Imperial Russian Air Service.

The Lebed VIII derivitive had stretched two-bay wings with ailerons; I believe the fuselage is still a more-or-less direct copy of the Tabloid. I think the mid-fuselage device behind the cockpit is actually some dirt or a scratch on the print.

[Varese2002]

Originally Posted by Patrick

--

It's a Lebed VIII. In the finest tradition of Russian aeronautical engineering, a derivitive of a first-generation bootleg design based on the Tabloid (called the Lebed VII), by Vladimir Lebedev.

The Lebed VII was an almost line-for-line copy of a production Tabloid, one of which was supplied by Sopwith -- without license to build -- to Lebedev in July 1914. Used in miniscule numbers by the Imperial Russian Air Service.

The Lebed VIII derivitive had stretched two-bay wings with ailerons; I believe the fuselage is still a more-or-less direct copy of the Tabloid. I think the mid-fuselage device behind the cockpit is actually some dirt or a scratch on the print.

You are right, the two bay arrangement with ailerons gave it away a Lebed VIII (Лебедь-VIII). The fuselage had some modifications, so they were developing the Tabloid concept, but to no avail. The machine was too slow and only two examples were built.
The black part on the fuselage is a scratch on the further very fine picture. I said it in the beginning "This one looks strangely familiar", easy to be fooled by this one. Incidentally I refrained from bringing the Lebed VII in the Challenge as there is in pictures no difference to the Tabloid, only the circumstances, essentially the people surrounding the machines could be taken for Russian.

Kees

[Varese2002]

Welcome Patrick you scored immediately a point on your first entry

The scores after challenge # 205 are:

40.9 Varese2002
24.2 Dave_Kent
15.5 Rbailey
9.3 Rod Filan
8.3 YavorD
7.4 JohnMacG
7.0 Breguet
5.9 Cruze
6.1 joegertler
6.0 Eric Goedkoop
5.6 ercoupepilot
5.5 EdStevens
5.4 Colin A. Owers
5.1 bshatzer
4.4 Ross Moorhouse
4.3 edmondthieffry
4 greenknight
4 Gilles
3.7 dpolglaze
2.7 Berman
2.6 FOKKERJ
2 Tom L
1.2 Ransom E. Olds
1 Peter Zambori
1 Gregoire
3.8 Der Grune Flieger
1 Patrick
1 cubsfan4life
1 austin08
1 Cliff
.8 Machinbird
.6 Crankcase
.4 Vilkata
.2 Paul_J._Fisher

Previous challenges are on http://www.earlyaviator.com/br.challenge/