Voisin 10 Ca2

Static Restoration (displayed in the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace)

Early 1918, the Voisin 10 began to replace the Type 8. The basic design remained the same, but the 280hp Renault engine, more reliable than the Peugeot, was installed and the rudder was strengthened and inscreased in area. The machine, like the Voisin 8, was framed in steel-tubing with a covering of fabric; wings tips were square and the double ailerons, of equal chord, were connected by light struts. The nacelle had a flat profile like that of earlier canon-equipped Voisins and had a large streamlined fuel-tank mounted under the top wing on each side, a characteristic Voisin four-wheeled undercarriage was provided.

600 lbs of bombs could be carried (396 lbs for the Voisin 8). This was only a fraction of the load carried by the contemporary twin-engined bombers, but it was heavy enough to allow the French night-flying "escadrilles" to deal heavy blows on German manufacturing centres, notably the factory producing poison gas at Ludwigshafen, the target of the first notable Voisin day-bombing raid led by De Goys in 1915. One "escadrille", V.293, was employed entirely on night reconnaissance. A version of the 10 Bn.2 was armed with a 37mm Hotchkiss quick-firer canon. It was not used in large number and the gun was frequently removed.

900 Voisin 10 were built.

Ancre 1

Voisin 10 Ca2 Fuselage

Memorial Flight began the restoration for static display of Voisin 10 Ca2's fuselage in March 2002. It is on loan from the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace. This fuselage is the last fragment of all the Voisin 10 built. The history of this airframe is not precisely known so far, but it may be the 4th Voisin 10 Ca2 built..

We already know that it is a Ca2 version (37mm canon) night attack airplane because the canon mount is still in place as well as the original brown paint on the fuselage and the black pigmented dope underneath the wings.

After some study, we found that this Voisin belonged to escadrille V110 and, surprisingly, it is a bomber transformed into a canon version !

It was fully restored to its Ca2 configuration with canon, machine gun, instruments and engine.

Some history: the Escadrille V110

Formed on march 25th 1915, escadrille N°110 was first equipped with Voisin bombers hence its original designation of VB-110. Engaged in the Verdun sector under capitaine Jacquet’s command, the unit took part in the attacks on the Eparges hill, before being sent to Melette airfield near Châlons-sur-Marne. Relocated on April 26th to Montdidier and on may 21st to Saint-Paul-sur-Mer for the Artois Battle. On July 20th the unit was on the plateau of Malzéville with Bomb Group N° 4 under Commandant Roisin’s command who was in charge of all the bombing units in the area. After suffering heavy losses, group N° 4 was sent to the Champagne area to be reconstituted. The VB-110 was then equipped with Voisin Canon (37mm gun) and the new designation VC-110 was adopted . The VC-110 was involved in the September 25th 1915 major offensive. The Bomb Group N°4 was disbanded in the following November, and the VC-110 under Lieutenant Cougnet’s command was incorporated into the IVth Armée stationed at Courtisols in the Marne sector. In April 1916, the unit went back to Malzéville as part of Bomb Group N° 1 where it took part in the Verdun battle.

At the end of 1916, the escadrille was equipped with Voisin-Canon, Voisin with Canton-Unné engine and Voisin-Peugeot ; the VC-110 was entirely equipped with Voisin-Peugeot in early 1917. The unit was involved with VB-114 in the offensive of Chemin-Des-Dames. In October 1917, the new VB-110 was in Villeneuve-les-Vertus and received the latest Voisin bombers with 300 hp. Renault engine. In march 1918, the escadrille converted onto Farman 50 twin engine’s bombers and became F-110.

At the end of the war, the escadrille N° 110 was on La Cheppe airfield in the Marne sector; she moved to Villeneuve-les-Vertus in July 1919 and to Ilbesheim in Germany up to the end of December 1919 as part of the occupation forces.

The unit emblem was a heron.

The Restoration

Restoration details

Photoscope

Front gunner position.

Note the 2 turret positions allowing vertical firing (ground attack).

Photoscope

Cockpit details.

Photoscope

Engine bay.

Photoscope

The Renault 12 FE engine.

The 2nd part of the photoscope, shows another Renault 12FE engine restored for static display.

Photoscope

The 37mm canon.

Pieces of history

Hidden History !

Surprisingly, the fuselage is made of 2 layers of aluminium sheets. The underskin sheet is painted in brown but the emblem of escadrille V110 could be seen under the paint. After thorough analysis, we found that this Voisin X was in fact a bomber (pilot in front) from escadrille V110 which was transformed into a canon version during the war.

Markings

A green line can be seen on the internal skin on the right side of the fuselage and some trace of an individual marking. The green is in fact the color of the top of the fuselage on Voisin bombers.