De Bruyère C 1

The De Bruyère C 1 was a prototype French single seat Fighter of unusual design produced during World War I. The sole example built crashed on its first fight, and the program was cancelled.

Design and development
Devoloped by Marcel de Bruyere, the C 1 was a single-bay conventionally configured biplane with, staggered, equal-span wings and inverted V-struts. An all-moving one piece canard controled pitch, while roll control was provided by unique rotary tip ailerons on the upper wing. A 150 hp Hispano-Suiza 8Aa water-cooled engine located immediately aft of the wings drove a two blade pusher propeller via a long shaft. Using a ventral fin with a long tail skid to protect the propeller and a short vertical stabilizer, the C1 had no horizontal stabilizer. Its tricycle landing gear and an advanced metal fuselage were also unique for its era. Designed to have an unrestricted forward field of fire, the fuselage also had two large circular windows on each side for downward visibility. The armament consisted of a single 37mm cannon.

In April 1917 the flight test facilities used by Farman Aviation Works and Blériot Aéronautique in Étampes France was chosen as the site for the first flight. The C 1 took off and reached an altitude of aprox 25 feet then rolled uncontrollably and crashed inverted. The test pilot survived. No further development of the type was pursued.