The Caudron brothers began aviation experimentation in 1908, building a large biplane which they intended to power using a pair of 30 hp (22 kW) Farcot engines.

Much smaller and lighter than the glider,[1] Type A No 1 was fitted with a 25 hp (19 kW) three-cylinder Anzani engine mounted on the lower wing to the pilots left, driving a two bladed propeller via a chain and driveshaft.

Four booms carried a fixed rectangular horizontal surface which could be warped uniformly to act as an elevator or differentially, combined with the wing-warping, to aid lateral control.

[1] Type A No.2 was the second aircraft built differing in having the engine mounted in a mid-gap position in front of the pilot driving a tractor configured propeller and in having interplane ailerons located between the upper and lower wings for lateral control.

[1] The Type A bis was a larger two-seat airframe with a five-cylinder Anzani engine of 45 hp (34 kW).