Roe I Biplane

When Roe I is a double-decker airplane of the British aircraft designer Alliott Verdon Roe.

This aircraft was the first own design of Roe, where he was based on the work of the Wright brothers. Only a machine of this type has been manufactured in a stable near Putney vun. The machine was a fabric-covered wooden construction. The underwings were holzbeplankt to improve the aerodynamics. As a control, an elevator was only available on the front sides of the wings, a height or vertical tail did not exist; thus a straight flight was only possible. The Roe I had a wheeled chassis, consisting of four small wheels on two axles was powered by a 9 hp ( 6.7 kW) JAP Motor, which worked on an air screw.

In September 1907, the machine was taken to the Brooklands race track in Surrey. The Daily Mail had offered a prize of 2,500 pounds sterling for the first circumnavigation of the racecourse. Due to the low engine power, the aircraft did not lift off. Roe borrowed a stronger Levasseur Antoinette engine and changed the air screw. On June 8, 1908 get some jumps.

In an attempt to lift the airplane at Brooklands on a bridle, employees of the racetrack dropped the plane. It broke apart and could not be repaired. The remains were eventually dismantled.

Specifications

The replica of a Roe I can be visited at Brooklands Museum, Brooklands / England.