View source for Breguet Type III

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{{Infobox aircraft
 |name=Breguet Type III
 |image=Breguet IV-folded.jpg
 |caption=Breguet III with wings folded for transport.
 |type= Experimental aircraft
 |manufacturer= [[Breguet Aviation|Bréguet]]
 |designer= [[Louis Breguet]]
 |first_flight= [[1910 in aviation|1910]]
 |introduction=
 |retired=
 |status=
 |primary_user= 
 |more_users= 
 |number_built=
 |variants=
}}

The '''Breguet Type III''' was an early [[biplane]] built by [[Louis Bréguet]] in France in 1910.

==Design and development==

The Breguet Type III, which first flew in April 1910, was a development of  the [[Breguet Type II|Type II]] which Breguet had built and flown earlier that year.  Eliminating the upper booms that had helped to carry the tail surfaces of the earlier aircraft, it had what is now seen as the conventional [[biplane]] configuration, with a [[fuselage]] containing a front-mounted engine driving a [[tractor configuration|tractor]] propeller and control and stabilising surfaces mounted at the rear.  At the time this was an unusual layout: the [[Goupy II]] which had first flown the previous year was the first aircraft of this configuration to be successful.  Like Breguet's earlier aircraft, extensive use of metal was made in its construction: the structure of the rectangular-section fuselage, wing [[Spar (aeronautics)|spars]] and [[interplane struts]] were steel, and the [[rib (aircraft)|ribs]] were aluminium [[stamping press|pressing]]s.

The lower wings were mounted on a short spar mounted below the lower [[longerons]] and the upper wing was supported by only four struts, two inboard supporting the centre section of the wing, and one on either side connecting the mainspars of the wings near the wingtips.  The mainspars of the wing panels were connected to the centre-section spar by knuckle joints, so that the wings could easily be folded back for road or rail transport.

Four small vertical stabilisers were mounted below the upper wing, and a pair of supplementary control surfaces were mounted below the fuselage. These were intended for lateral control, and were operated in conjunction with [[wing-warping]] The rear-mounted [[empennage]] initially consisted of a fixed fin and [[rudder]] and a rectangular [[elevator]], with no fixed horizontal surface, but this was soon replaced by a cruciform assembly combining rudder and elevator, connected to the fuselage by a universal joint.  This unusual arrangement became a characteristic of the aircraft manufactured by Bréguet before [[World War I]].

The prototype was powered by a {{convert|50|hp|kW|abbr=on}} [[Gnome Omega]] driving a three-bladed aluminium propeller through a 2:1 reduction gear. Later aircraft were produced with other powerplants.

==Operational history==
A Type III gained fame in August 1910 by being the first aircraft to lift six people.

==Operators==
;{{FRA}}
*[[French Air Force]]

==Specifications (example shown at 1910 Paris Aero Salon)==

{{Aircraft specs
|ref=<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1910/1910%20-%201030.html "The Breguet biplane."] ''[[Flight magazine]],'' 17 December 1910.</ref>
|prime units?=met<!-- imp or kts first for US aircraft, and UK aircraft pre-metrification, met(ric) first for all others. You MUST choose a format, or no specifications will show -->
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        General characteristics
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<!--
        Powerplant
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=[[R.E.P. 1910 60hp 5-cyl.]] 
|eng1 type=  2-row semi-radial
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|prop blade number=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
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        Performance
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|ferry range km=
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|endurance=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=
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        Armament
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|armament=<!-- add (bulleted list) here or if you want to use the following specific parameters, remove this parameter-->
|guns= 
|bombs= 
|rockets= 
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|other armament=

|avionics=
}}

==See also==
*[[Breguet 4]]
*[[Breguet 5]]

==References==
{{commonscat}}
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}
===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*''L'Aérophile,'' 15 June 1910, pp.&nbsp;273ff.
* [[Leonard E. Opdycke|Opdycke, Leonard E.]] ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War''. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer, 1999. {{ISBN|0-7643-0752-5}}.
{{Refend}}

{{Breguet aircraft}}

[[Category:Breguet aircraft|  III]]
[[Category:1910s French experimental aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1910]]
[[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]]