The DELANNE 10 is
a very special aircraft. It takes again a concept imagined in
the Twenties by the engineer Nénadovitch. The lower wing of the
base biplane is offset towards the rear of the aircraft to become
the hirozontal tail. The upper wing is raised and adopts a gull
wing shape in order to obtain a very low stall speed and to promote
maneuverability. The "rear" wing receives two vertical rudders.
Although skeptical,
the Ministry of Air commanded a prototype in the category "C2":
Combat Tandem. The resulting Delanne 10 which resulted from it
was of modern, completely metallic construction, with retractable
landing gear into the fuselage, equipped with beaks of leading
edge, and endowed with a turret in the back of the fuselage. The
latter therefore enjoyed perfect visibility. That of the pilot
was much less good with a cockpit retreated and therefore placed
behind the wing whose shape in seagull masking the lateral visions.
The date of the first
flight was delayed due to the late delivery of the tail wheel
which did not arrive until May 10, 1940, and finally the arrival
of the Germans put an end to all the tests planned. This initial
flight took place only in October 1941, in the hands of the Germans,
and the aircraft was sent to Germany in 1943. We have no record
of these flights, but it is probable that the results did not
live up to the ambitions with such a special formula ...
