WAK 08-2008 Samoloty Myśliwskie SPAD S.A-2 & DUFAUX C.2

The SPAD SA2 was a French reconnaissance and fighter aircraft from the First World War. The machine was built in a biplane system, had a classic fixed undercarriage and a primarily wooden structure. The flight of the prototype took place in 1915, and a short series production was carried out in the years 1915-1916. In total, about 110 copies of this aircraft were built. The drive was provided by a single Le Rhone 9J engine with 110 HP. The machine was 7.3 meters long with a wingspan of 9.55 meters. The deck armament consisted of a single 7.7 mm machine gun.

The SPAD SA2 was characterized by a very unusual design in which the propeller was placed between the parts of the fuselage and was a push propeller. Such an atypical layout resulted from the desire to make the most of the on-board armament at a time when machine gun synchronizers were not known yet. As a result, the shooter was in the nose of the machine, and the pilot was behind him and the propeller. Although the machine provided an unlimited field of fire from the deck shell, it was not very maneuverable and its design made it difficult for the pilot to see ahead. The machine was also not liked by the crews and in 1916 it was withdrawn from service. Machines of this type were used in French and Russian aviation.

The Dufaux C.2 was a French WW1 prototype biplane fighter. A prototype flight took place in 1916, but the machine never entered mass production. The drive was provided by a single Le Rhone 9J engine with 110 HP. The deck armament consisted of a single 7.7mm Lewis machine gun. Dufaux C.2 was developed by the French engineer Armand Dufaux (hence the name of the aircraft), and its production was undertaken by CEA plants based in the city of Chateaufort. The machine was characterized by an unusual design system with the power unit located in the middle of the fuselage and with a push propeller, instead of the commonly used pulling one. The design solution was therefore analogous to the British Airco DH.2 or the domestic SPAD A.2. However, the machine faced many problems during flight tests, the most serious of which was the durability of the entire structure. This scarcity also led to the crash of the only prototype built, after which further work on the Dufaux C.2 was abandoned.