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The Levasseur PL.8 was a single engine, two-seat long-distance record-breaking biplane aircraft modified from an existing Levasseur PL.4 carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft produced in France in the 1920s. Levasseur built the aircraft in 1927, specifically for pilots Charles Nungesser and François Coli for a transatlantic attempt to win the Orteig Prize. Only two examples of the type were built, with the first PL.8-01 named ''L'Oiseau Blanc'' (The White Bird), that gained fame as Nungesser and Coli's aircraft. ==Design and development== At the Pierre Levasseur Company in Paris, Nungesser and Coli, working closely with Chief Engineer Émile Farret and production manager Albert Longelot, assisted in the design of the new Levasseur PL.8 biplane. Based on the PL.4 developed for the Aéronavale to operate from the French aircraft carrier ''Béarn'', the PL.8 was a conventional single-bay wood and fabric-covered biplane that carried a crew of two in a side-by-side open cockpit. Major modifications included the reinforcement of the plywood fuselage, removing two of the forward cockpits with the main cockpit widened to allow Nungesser and Coli to sit side-by-side. The wingspan was also increased to approximately . In adding two additional fuel tanks mounted aft of the firewall, the three fuel tanks held a total of 4,025 litres (1,056 gallons) of gasoline.〔McDonaugh 1966, p. 29.〕 The PL.8 also incorporated several safety features in case of ditching at sea. Apart from small floats attached directly to the undersides of the lower wing, the main units of the fixed tailskid undercarriage could be jettisoned on takeoff in order to reduce the aircraft's weight. The underside of the fuselage was given a boat-like shape and made watertight for a water landing. Nungesser and Coli's plan was to make a water landing in New York in front of the Statue of Liberty〔O'Mara, Richard. "Surviving Amelia." ''The Sun,'' 10 January 1999.〕 A single W-12 Lorraine-Dietrich engine was used with the cylinders set in three banks spaced 60° apart from one another, similar to the arrangement used in Napier engines. The engine was tested to ensure it would last the entire flight and was run for over 40 hours while still in the Parisian factory.〔Godspeed, Charles and Francois. ("The Secret of The White Bird." ) ''aero-news.net,'' 9 May 2006. Retrieved: 16 January 2009.〕 The aircraft christened ''L'Oiseau Blanc'' was painted white and had the French tricolor markings, with Nungesser's personal World War I flying ace logo: a skull and crossbones, candles and a coffin, on a black heart.〔Wiggens, Bill. "Mystery of the White Bird." ''Air Classics,'' July 1999.〕 The biplane carried no radio and relied only on celestial navigation, a specialty of Coli from his previous flights around the Mediterranean.〔 In 1928, a second PL.8 was built, equipped with a Hispano-Suiza 12M 375 kW (500 hp) engine. Flown in 1928, the PL.8-02 was intended as a long-range record breaker but modified as an air mail carrier. On 20 December 1929, the second PL.8-02, registered F-AJKP to ''Cie Generale Aeropostale'' and based at Dakar while flown by pilot Henry Delaunay, was badly damaged when it hit a pothole on landing at Istres and not repaired.〔("Project Midnight Ghost ." ) ''tighar.org,'' 2006. Retrieved: 18 January 2009.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Levasseur PL.8」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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