To: JimmyVFR
RE: Caudron C.460
Hi Jimmy
We took your request to Miss Nellie who accepted it with a sort of curious calm. She passed it on to Tex Winters down on the flightline. He and his pilots put the two Caudron aircraft through the a series of tests and sent the evaluations back. Here is Miss Nellie's judgment.
--We have tested the Gilles Faulmeyer models of the Caudron C.450 and the Caudron C.460.
This is a truly wonderful rendition of a charismatic aircraft, one of real historical significance. And it fits into the era beautifully. A lovely aircraft.
However, the C.460 is just too fast for this particular competition. The top speed our test pilots obtain is about 288 KTAS which is something like 50 KTAS faster than the next competitor. The simulation numbers are fine in terms of the speed records that pilots set in 1935 and 1936. This is not a realism question, merely one of setting a competitive event in which multiple aircraft and strategies are viable.
As with other excellent aircraft of the era that break the London-Melbourne competition, the C.460 will have to remain on an "honor roll" that misses the White List. It joins the company of other splendid aircraft like the Hughes H1, the Gee Bee R6 QED, and the Laird Turner Meteor.
The Gilles Faulmeyer Caudron C.450 will be just fine for the Race. Unhappily, it appears to be a bit slow when compared to the top speed records that it produced later in 1934 and in 1935. Of course, a simulation of the (May 27, 1934) Coupe de la Meurthe race-winning C.450 need not be expected to produce world-record-setting times – which rose over time. Our test pilots' top speed at 4,000' is about 209 KTAS (knots true airspeed). Maurice Arnoux's average speed when winning the closed-circuit Coupe was just about 209 KTAS. In August of 1934, Hélène Boucher set speed records of 222 and 246 KTAS. And in May 1935 Raymond Delmotte won the Coupe at 240 KTAS. The later C.450 seems to have had installed a larger more powerful Renault engine. So perhaps Faulmeyer modeled the earlier manifestation.
For more technical details, see Leglise, Pierre. 1935. The 1934 Contest for the Deutsch de la Meurthe Trophy. L'Aeronautique (July 1934). Technical Memorandum 765. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. (Available from Cranfield University:
http://naca.central.cranfield.ac.uk/...aca-tm-765.pdf )
Tell the young man that if he is keen on the beautiful Caudron, he should turn his eye toward the C.450 model in which Maurice Arnoux won the Coupe.
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So it seems that only the slower fixed-gear Caudron C.450 will make the White List. If you would like a faster "racing" plane, you might consider the Northrop Gamma which is freeware but rather old. Better, you might look at the Percival Mew Gull which is represented by two good freeware versions and by an excellent payware version by Flying Stations. The freeware Gee Bee Model Z is fast but short-legged. And the payware Gee Bee Model R-2 is fast with better range.
Or you might choose another way to go.
In any case, we are keen on encouraging your participation. The Caudron C.460 is certainly an excellent choice, but one that just won't work for this particular competition. Lots of other good choices, though.
Best,
The Committee
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