What I Saw
my invention, designed especially for a tiny airplane.
This engine had two opposed cylinders, which brings the inconvenience of the lubrication difficulty, but, also, the considerable advantages of a small weight and a perfect balance, not surpassed by any other engine.
It weighed 40 kilos and developed 35 HP.
It was never achieved a fixed, water-cooled engine, and of such insignificant weight, only equaled, later, by the rotary engines, to which, however, I was always opposed, since its appearance. Today, 10 years later, it seems to me, this assessment is confirmed, because the fixed engine has had a general acceptance.
The "Demoiselle" measured 10 square meters of wing area; it was 8 times smaller than the 14-bis! With her, during one year, I flew every afternoon and even went, in a certain occasion, to visit a friend in his Castle. As it was a small and transparent airplane, they named it "Libelule" or "Demoiselle".
This was, of all my devices, the easiest to fly, and the one that got more popularity.
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