Antoinette IV
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| Antoinette IV | |
|---|---|
 Antoinette IV in flight | |
| General information | |
| Type | Experimental aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Antoinette |
| Designer | |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Number built | 1 |
| History | |
| First flight | 19 October 1908 |
The Antoinette IV was a high-wing aircraft with a fuselage of extremely narrow triangular cross-section and a cruciform tail. Power was provided by a V8 engine of Léon Levavasseur's own design driving a paddle-bladed tractor propeller. Lateral control was at first effected with large triangular, and shortly afterwards trapezoidal-planform ailerons hinged to the trailing edge of the wings, although wing-warping was substituted at an early stage in flight trials, and in this type proved more effective.
On 19 February 1909, the Antoinette IV flew 5 km (3.1 mi) at Mourmelon-le-Grand, and on 19 July, Hubert Latham attempted to cross the English Channel in it, covering 11 km (6.8 mi) out of Sangatte before making a forced water landing due to engine failure.[1][2][3][4]
On 3 October 1910, Frenchman René Thomas, flying the Antoinette IV, collided with British Army Captain Bertram Dickson by ramming his Farman III biplane in the rear.[5] Both pilots survived, but Dickson was so badly injured that he never flew again.[6][7][8]
