Caudron biplanes

A Caudron G.III dual control biplane. This example has a 100 HP 10 cylinder Anzani engine. Picture supplied by the RNZAF Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Notice the switch by the pilot's hand; it was the only engine control. There was no throttle fitted, so the engine was either on or off. Early aircraft had so little excess power that there was not much point in being able to fly at anything other than full throttle and not fitting a throttle saved complexity and weight. The switch was outside the cockpit so that the mechanic could reach it if necessary.

The engine was switched off to land the plane. Pilots soon learnt good judgement; if they got the landing approach wrong they had a big problem because once that switch was off and the engine had stopped windmilling they were committed to a landing like it or not.

The cockpit instruments were also sparse. The only instrument was an altimeter.

References

• Anzani aero engines.
• Caudron G.III photos, brief history and specifications.
• There is an original Caudron G.III at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in upstate New York.
• Gaston & René Caudron. This page is over 1.4 MB and so is slow to load.