The Paulhan-Tatin Aéro-Torpille No.1, (also known as Paulhan-Tatin Aero Torpedo), was a French experimental aircraft built in 1911 as a collaboration between the famous pilot Louis Paulhan and Victor Tatin, a scientist who had experimented with various types of flying models and in 1879 had made the first model aircraft to take off under its own power.
The Aéro-Torpille No.1 created great interest during the 1911 Salon de l’Aéronautique at the Grand Palais in Paris due to its novel design and streamlined appearance.
[1] The aircraft had a streamlined circular section fuselage which entirely enclosed the 50 hp (37 kW) Gnome rotary engine, which drove a pusher configuration propeller mounted at the back of the fuselage, connected to the engine by a long driveshaft.
Initially a universal joint was fitted at the engine end of the driveshaft, but in tests the girder construction of the fuselage proved rigid enough for this not to be necessary, and the long tube forming the driveshaft was simply held by six ballraces attached to the structure by wires, to eliminate whip.
Tail surfaces consisted of a fixed tailplane with trailing-edge elevators and a small rectangular balanced rudder.