Compagnie Gabriel Voisin

The Compagnie Gabriel Voisin was a French aircraft manufacturer in the early 20th century.

World War I Production

The company had successfully designed a pusher biplane which was subsequently developed for military use. The Voisin 1912 Type, also known as the Voisin I, was the first of a series of variants which stayed in service for the duration of World War I, the configuration remaining standard throughout. 'Les Freres Voisin' was essentially conservative in design philosophy; there were only slight incremental design changes in the airframe. Improvements in the performance of the successive types was made principally by installing more powerful engines, which in turn required wings of greater span.

During the War, the Voisin Pusher Series performed a variety of roles, including reconnaissance, artillery spotting, training, day and night bombing and ground attack. It is said that a Voisin II was the first allied aircraft to shoot down a German aircraft. The first recorded armed aerial victory of the war occurred on October 5 1914, when a French pilot and his observer, flying a Voisin III, shot down a German Aviatik B.1 with bullets fired from a Hotchkiss machine gun.

The sequence of types was: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X

References

Aviation in World War I

Aces · Aircraft of the Entente Powers · Aircraft of the Central Powers · Zeppelins · Category: World War I Aircraft

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