AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 03 / 132

Plate 03 of 132 · Great War · Two-seat reconnaissance biplane

Caudron G.3

Caudron G.3, painted as 3066, a Caudron G.3 of the Royal Naval Air Service flying school at Vendôme in 1917: the French two-seat reconnaissance and training sesquiplane of 1914, with a short nacelle carrying the crew and a 90 hp Anzani ten-cylinder radial, wing-warping wings and an open tail-boom framework with a broad tailplane and twin rudders, standing on paired wheels and long forward skids; shown as the airframe displayed at the RAF Museum, London, a pre-war civil survivor rebuilt at Henlow in 1970–71: clear-doped linen wings and tail, a bare aluminium nose and tail cone on the nacelle, varnished spruce struts and booms, black steel undercarriage, roundels under the upper wing and on the nacelle sides, the serial ‘3066’ on the nacelle, and blue, white and red stripes on the outer faces of the rudders; the roundels on top of the upper wing, which no photograph shows, follow RNAS practice.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as 3066, a Caudron G.3 of the Royal Naval Air Service flying school at Vendôme in 1917: the French two-seat reconnaissance and training sesquiplane of 1914, with a short nacelle carrying the crew and a 90 hp Anzani ten-cylinder radial, wing-warping wings and an open tail-boom framework with a broad tailplane and twin rudders, standing on paired wheels and long forward skids; shown as the airframe displayed at the RAF Museum, London, a pre-war civil survivor rebuilt at Henlow in 1970–71: clear-doped linen wings and tail, a bare aluminium nose and tail cone on the nacelle, varnished spruce struts and booms, black steel undercarriage, roundels under the upper wing and on the nacelle sides, the serial ‘3066’ on the nacelle, and blue, white and red stripes on the outer faces of the rudders; the roundels on top of the upper wing, which no photograph shows, follow RNAS practice. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (1.2 MB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the Caudron G.3 modelled here.

History

The G.3

The brothers René and Gaston Caudron built the G.3 in 1914 as a simple, forgiving two-seater: a short nacelle for the pilot and observer with the engine in its nose, long wings controlled by warping rather than ailerons, and an open framework of booms carrying the tailplane and twin rudders. It went into French service as a reconnaissance and artillery-spotting aircraft in the first months of the war.

The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service bought G.3s too, and in 1915 they flew over the trenches as observation aircraft. Slow and unarmed, they were soon too vulnerable for the front, but their gentle handling made them ideal trainers, and thousands of pilots learnt to fly on them in France, Britain and Italy until the end of the war.

About 2,450 were built in France, with more made under licence in Britain and Italy. After the war G.3s carried on as civil trainers and joyriding aircraft, and on 1 April 1921 the French pilot Adrienne Bolland flew one across the Andes from Argentina to Chile.

This airframe

G.3 3066

3066The airframe modelled

The RAF Museum’s Caudron, c/n 7487, was probably built in 1916. After the war it flew in Belgium as O-BELA and later OO-ELA, and in May 1936 Ken Waller flew it to Brooklands, after which it appeared at Shoreham, Lympne and the RAF Display at Hendon. It passed to Richard Nash’s collection and then to the Royal Aeronautical Society, was restored by the RAF at Upavon and Stradishall in the 1960s, and in 1970–71 was rebuilt at Henlow to represent 3066 of the RNAS flying school at Vendôme in 1917. It has been at Hendon since 1972. The model shows it with its open 90 hp Anzani, clear-doped linen, a bare aluminium nose and varnished booms and struts, with the stripes on the outer faces of the rudders; the roundels on top of the upper wing, which no photograph shows, follow RNAS practice.

See it at Royal Air Force Museum London

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the G.3 in one UK collection. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 132 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.