Breguet LE or Laboratoire Eiffel

Breguet LE – interesting but almost forgotten project from the past. Everyone knows that Gustave Eiffel built the famous tower in Paris in 1889 and many other famous buildings. But not many people know that he was interested in aviation. He created a very professional aircraft design office: Laboratoire Eiffel in the rue Boileau in Paris. This office, or rather its main director: engineer W. Margoulis, supported by Eiffel, created in 1917 the design of a completely innovative fighter plane.
It was clean low – wing monoplane with a very aerodynamic shape. The plane did not have any wires, struts or other typical stiffeners. Single machine gun and all control levers were within fuselage, for no external control connections are to be seen in photographs. An engine of 220 h.p. Hispano Suiza was specified.
The design was sent to the Breguet factory to make prototype ( so its called Breguet LE ) but luck was not on its side : Prototype was ready for testing on March 1918. There was no any free 220 h.p. engine so Hispano – Suiza 180 h.p. was installed. Professional test pilot of Breguet Company was fully committed to some important tasks and for several reasons was unable to undertake the testing of the LE prototype. Jean Saucliere, a Spad pilot who was convalescing after an illness agreed to fly the monoplane.... First start was very unlucky and plane damaged the undercarriage. It was repaired and took off again on 28 March 1918. That day very advanced equipment for measuring the speed was employed. This consisted two synchronized cameras with chronometers and occasion must have been one of the earliest uses of this method of determining an aircraft;s speed.
After short take -off the Breguet LE made single run past the cameras. It climbed higher and then suddenly dived into ground with the engine still at full throttle and burst into flames. Saucliere died in the crash. Despite the short flight, accurate measurements were made and they were shocking.
That single test shown that LE with very poor engine was faster than the latest SPAD 17 C1 which was to have the 300 h.p. Hispano – Suiza. Apparently its speed was estimated to be 220 km/h ( 137 m.p.h. ) at 4000 m ( some documents quotes 250 km/h ), the corresponding recorded speed of the later Spad 17 C1 with 300 h.p. Was 131 m.p.h. The same estimate predicted that LE would climb to 4000 m in 10 minutes : SPAD 17 – took 12,5 minutes.

Such performance of the prototype encouraged the continuation of work - and Eiffel, Breguet and representatives of the army were interested in building a new prototype. However main engineer W. Margoulis regarded himself as personally responsible for Saucliere death and was opposed to the continuance of work on further aircraft. Breguet tried to continue the work himself, but he had neither the time nor the skills to do so, and a new prototype was never built. War ended soon and Gustave Eiffel himself died in 1923 aged 91.

I only saw 4 very poor quality photos of this prototype, so the 3D model is definitely not 100% compatible... but what can you do? I hope that this little less known story was interesting for you.