Levasseur-Abrial A-1

The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 was a glider built in 1922 as a result of a collaboration between French aerodynamicist Georges Abrial de Péga and constructor Pierre Levasseur.

It had a reflex, Joukovsky airfoil section and was thick in the centre, thinning outboard where tapered ailerons reached out to the tips.

It was built around pairs of swept wooden spars with plywood skin from the forward one around the nose forming a torsion resisting D-box.

The fuselage tapered aft to large tail surfaces; a lightly swept, cantilever tailplane with angled tips was mounted at mid-height, carrying a one-piece elevator.

[1] The Levasseur-Abrial A-1 took part in the Congrès Experimental de Combegrasse, held in August 1922 near Clermont Ferrand at a time when gliding as a sport was just beginning and before the importance of ridge lift or thermals was appreciated.