The Deperdussin Racer Aircraft
Although technically classified, like the Bleriot XI, the Han riot Monoplane, and the Curtiss Model D, as a “pioneer aircraft,” the Deperdussin Racer, in physical appearance alone, indicates that it does not belong to this category. Its completely covered, streamlined, bracing wire-devoid fuselage; single, razor-sharp wings; tiny tail surfaces, drag-reducing spinner; faired landing gear; and modern control wheel all reflect advanced technology and speed, placing the type in a “transition” category of its own, between the original, pioneer and later, World War I designations.
It owes its origin to Armand Deperdussin, who was neither an airplane inventor nor a pilot. Beginning his career as a cabaret singer in Belgium, he pursued several professions, none of which were remotely related to aeronautics, including luring customers into motion picture theaters operated by the Lumpier Brothers as a barker and selling fabric at wholesale prices to French department stores. In the fall of 1909, he agreed to supply the Bon Marche store of Paris with a Christmas display featuring an aircraft, but, despite his own interest in the budding science, he knew nothing of aerodynamics or design himself, thus forced to approach the Society de Construction d’Appareils Aeries to fill his needs.
Instrumental to this display, and Deperdussin future, had been 32-year-old Louis Bechereau, graduate of the Cole des Arts ET Métiers dangers and chief engineer there. His reputation had reached “brilliance” stature.
Attracted by its canard aircraft, Deperdussin himself acquired the Society de Construction d’Appareils Aeries, located in Bethany, near Rheims, France, in 1910, and renamed it the “Society de Production des Apparels Deperdussin,” or “SPAD.”
The intended static display, appearing at the end of the previous year, resembled an Antoinette monoplane with a tailskid.
