Roger Sommer was already a succesfull pilot when he decided to have a go on producing his own aeroplane design. It is unlikely that the actual design work was done by Sommer, but he had certainly the wealth to hire qualified engineers to work for him.
The picture shows his first design of September 1909 at the airfield of Chalons. An impressive construction with a few characteristic design options.
The engine - a water-cooled Vivinus of 50 hp - was mounted on a platform between the four-wheel undercarriage. Before it is the tall radiator. This place of the engine made it necessary that the propeller was driven by a chain. As the text on the card gives 'hélice démultipliée par chaîne' the propeller was geared, meaning that the rpm of the propeller was reduced by the gearing.
Sommer added an extra shorter biplane wing, probably to obtain more lifting wing area. Effectively it was a one and a half tandem wing biplane. Added was a double rudder, with tailskids.
The machine was either too heavy or underpowered (or both) and during tests rolled over the ground or made some small hops. Development of the first Sommer design was discontinued and undaunted the design of a new Sommer biplane was started. This Sommer biplane Type 1910 became one of the star performing early French biplanes, competing on the same level as the Farman and Voisin biplanes.
Tags: 1909 Hélice démultipliée Sommer Tandem biplane Vivinus geared propeller
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The 1911 vintage Sommer Aérobus or 'Grand Biplan' pusher biplane was an enlargement from the Sommer vintage 1910 pusher biplane. To carry 5 passengers - as shown here - it was necessary to have more lift. This was accomplished by adding an extension to the upper wing (as also done by Henry Farman). This large machine had a great span and two ailerons at each side.
It is recorded that on 9 January 1911 Molla (not Mollat) carried 5 passengers for a duration of 66 minutes. The flight was prematurely ended by the freezing cold. May be this card shows that event.
To get into the air might be just possible with 5 passengers and 1 pilot as a 70 hp Gnome rotary was fitted, which sounds somewhat underpowered for such a heavy load.
Tags: 1911 Aérobus Biplane Grand Biplan Mollat ND Phot Pusher Sommer
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One of the great pre-war French aeroplane designs was this pusher biplane by Sommer. It could 'easily' be recognised by the huge hinging ailerons from the top wing only, which were in a sort of rounded form. Also characteristic was the construction of the front mounted elevator where a rounded construction was used quite different from the designs of Henry and Maurice Farman.
The Sommer Biplane was also acquired by the French army and is seen here at Lunéville, then near the German border.
As can be seen even military flyng was a social event as lots of family and acquaintances were around to congratulate the pilot - Lieutenant de Caumont - with his flying performance.
Due to the scribbling on the card I would date this as 1910.
Tags: 1910 Biplane Lunéville Pusher Sommer de Caumont
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The Sommer biplanes (design 1910) were flying all over Europe. Here Georges Legagneux (1882-1914) is flying the Sommer biplane in the Lyon contest held in May 1910.
The Sommer biplane could be distinguished from the popular Farman and Voisin types by its front structure of the elevator which was held by a characteristic curved structure.
Legagneux held No.55 of the brevet de L'Aéroclub de France which he obtained on 19 April 1910. He fatally crashed on 6 July 1914 during an exhibition flight at Saumur when he fell in the river Loire.
Tags: 1910 Biplane Legagneux Sommer
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Next to the Voisin and Farman biplanes, the Sommer biplane of 1910 had a rmarkable success. Machines of this type flew all over Europe. The occassion of this picture is the Grande Semaine d'Aviation at Reims 1910 (the second edition) which featured 67 different machines in flight (and a few more which never came to flight). Given this impressive number it is remarkable that 8 (!) Sommer biplanes were present. This one with contest number '57' was allotted to pilot Jean Daillens and was powered by the dependable 50 hp Gnôme rotary. The card producer probably added the famous name of Sommer to sell more of this card.
In the background is the specially built construction to seat the (paying) public.
Tags: 1910 Biplane Daillens Gnôme Grande Semaine d'aviation de la Champagne Reims Sommer
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