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The Bernard 80 GR was one of three types built by different French constructors in response to a government call for an aircraft capable of setting new long distance records. A single engine monoplane with a crew of two, the 80 GR set an absolute record for flight over a closed circuit in April 1931, covering 8,960 km (5,569 mi). Modifications led to a new designation as the Bernard 81 GR but no more records were set despite several attempts. ==Design and development== In 1929 France regained the world straight line and closed circuit distance records with the Breguet 19 TR ''Point d'Interrogation''. Both non-stop flights in this open cockpit aircraft covered about 8,000 km (5,000 mi) and it was obvious that longer flights would require better crew protection. Albert Claquot, the French air minister, therefore announced a prize of one million francs for the prototype of an aircraft that could fly for 10,000 km (6,215 mi) against a 35 km/h (22 mph) head wind. Three manufacturers responded, resulting in the Blériot 110, the Dewoitine 33 ''Trait d'Union'' and the Bernard 80 GR ''L'Oiseau Tango''. Tango referred both to the orange colour of the aircraft and to an earlier Bernard aircraft named ''L'Oiseau Tango'', the Bernard 18 GR. The GR designation used by both Bernard designs and by other long range French aircraft stood for ''Grand Raid'' or extreme long distance flight. The last of the three to fly, the Bernard was flown for the first time on 27 November 1930 by Antoine Paillard.〔 The Bernard 80 was a monoplane with a cantilever wing of high aspect ratio (8.6). The wing planform was straight tapered with elliptical tips. Five fuel tanks on each side provided a total capacity of 7,000 L (1,540 Imp gal, 1,850 US gal). Differential ailerons were fitted. The wing was a single piece wooden structure with two spars and plywood ribs, plywood skinned with canvas covering. It thickened continuously towards the centre where its depth increased rapidly to form part of the fuselage. This centre section contained four parallel steel tubes which joined the front and rear fuselage sections to it. An oval internal opening, 0.7 m (28 in) high and 0.45 m (17 in) wide, gave access from the nose to the rear.〔 The nose section contained the V-12 Hispano-Suiza 12 Nb engine, which produced 462 kW (620 hp) at 2,000 rpm and drove a two blade propeller. A chin radiator was mounted below the fuselage firewall, with a long, prominent fairing behind it. The engine mountings were extended rearwards beyond the pilot's cabin to join the steel tubes in the wings. The cabin, fitted with dual controls, was accessed via glazed triangular doors, which provided sufficient sideways vision for cruising flight. A hatch, provided with a small windscreen was used for take-offs and landings by raising the pilot's seat. The navigator sat alongside the pilot on a drop seat. His space, 2 m (79 in) long and 1 m (39 in) wide, had side and roof windows for sightings. Internally, the rear part of the fuselage, mounted on the other end of the wing's four steel tubes, provided a space for the crew to rest during a long flight. The aerodynamically clean, tapered, elliptical rear section was built around four longerons, with a plywood skin and outer fabric sheath. The tailplane was mounted on top of the fuselage and the fin and rudder together were roughly elliptical. The fixed, tailwheel undercarriage had split axles hinged to the bottom of the fuselage, with the wheels and main legs enclosed in narrow, wide chord fairings.〔 After the successful record flight of March 1931 described below, the aircraft returned to the factory at Bourget to be modified for further record attempts. The wing area was increased by a 2 m (79 in) span extension, the wheel fairings were refined and, most noticeably, the chin radiator was removed and replaced with ones in the wing leading edges. The engine was replaced by a similar but geared down version, the Hispano-Suiza 12 Nbr, driving a three blade propeller, which was later replaced by one with four blades. Post-modification, the aircraft was re-designated as the Bernard 81 GR. It first flew in this form in August 1931, named the ''Antoine Paillard'' in memory of its first pilot who had died suddenly under surgery for appendicitis two months before. Later it was renamed the ''L'Oiseau Canari II'', recalling the earlier record breaking Bernard 191 ''L'Oiseau Canari''.〔 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「Bernard 80 GR」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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