100 years ago, October 14, 1919, Etienne Poulet and his mechanic Jean Benoist left Paris to try to reach Melbourne in Australia.
A raid of more than 20,000 km aboard a modified Caudron G4.


The G4 dubbed "the fly" ready for departure.


https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9032996r.r=Benoist%20et%20Poulet?rk=21459;2





Etienne Poulet (left) and Jean Benoist, "The young Benoist carrying the road maps"

It was Kajetan Schulz who was interested in this raid and offered me with Xan to join me in this project. I thank them for it.

Kajetan Schulz is a Polish craftsman who designs decal projects for Copper State Models (Ni.17 for example) as well as for the private maquetists. It produces all resin parts for CSM

The resin parts of the conversion kit will have enough space to decorate the interior of the cabin, new propellers, water bottles and decals.

His site:

https://meliusmanu.pl

There are not so many companies interested in our story, I think Kajetan deserves support in this brave initiative.

Some images of the aircraft are well known but many hours of research were needed to decipher the inscriptions that cover the cockpit, engine nacelles, tanks and drifts. All information comes from the press of the 20s, photos found on the internet and the museum Caudron (City Street).



The plane belonged to Etienne Poulet. It has been refurbished (doc. Air life illustrated p 683) by the company Caudron.
It has been modified to be able to fly for 12 hours without refueling at a maximum speed of 105km / h.

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553380s/f41.item.r=Poulet.zoom

Two additional tanks were installed between the wings (500 liters of petrol instead of 150 liters of petrol and 35 liters of oil in the standard version).
Both tanks were offered by Caudron (Le Matin 13/12/19).
It is planned to make castor oil in the course of the trip ...

Despite Etienne Poulet's requests, no help has been given by France. The project is therefore carried out at its own expense (60,000 francs at the time) with the support of industrialist Paul Plouvier and journalist Jean Lhermit. The supplies will be supplied in part by Great Britain in its colonies, Mesopotamia, India, Siam (Thailand).
With reluctance Etienne Poulet agrees to cover his plane with advertisements for the engine manufacturer Gnome and Rhone as well as for the brand varnish that covers the canvas of the aircraft.The two tanks also carry inscriptions as well as the upper wing.

Etienne Poulet and Jean Benoist bring in more fuel spare parts, two propellers fixed under the plane, a wheel in the cockpit (photo), a rifle (photo), a pistol, a can of 5 liters of water and food for a week.


The card dispenser (in the hands of the mechanic at the bottom right), the barrel of the rifle protruding from
the cockpit and spare wheel. Advertisements on the engine nacelle




Thirty meters of cards in rolls are stored behind the driver.




The station of TSF is abandoned in favor of pigeons travelers much less heavy. Jean Benoist is thus seated between two crates during all the flight (the uncompromising 02/02/20).
They carry in all 750 kg of material.



On engine nacelles advertising for Gnome and Rhône engines as well as the varnish used to coat the canvas

This photo was taken in the Caudron Museum of the city of Rue (very small but very nice and that costs only 2 €).
You can also access the Caudron archives by making an appointment.


https://musee-caudron-test2.jimdo.com/


Happy New Year!!!

Cordially

Hello,

While waiting for the conversion kit to be delivered by the postman I started the engines.



They are very beautiful and only require a little sanding along the molding joint.



Note the valves springs and tumblers arms.





It will be necessary to add in the back the threads of the candles and in the front the rods of tumblers.
The engine was painted in black, Alclad metal and drybrushed with steel color oil paint. We must still give a patina to the whole

The exhaust pipes are drilled and the edges of the hoods a little refined.







Regards.

A bit of history while waiting for the resin parts ...

Born in 1890, in Lommes, in the North of France, Etienne Poulet obtains his military certificate (n ° 257) in 1912, at 22 years old. In 1919 Etienne Poulet is already a known pilot who is not his first feat. He is one of the first pilots to fly upside down.
He won the record of nonstop flight time held by German Ingoldi on April 16, 1914 (more than 16h 29min 30s).
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6585086p/f3.image.r=Poulet%20Etienne%20Record%201914?rk=128756;0

He can then participate in major aviation meetings alongside Roland Garros, Himelman and Chanpteloup just before the start of hostilities.



5-12 avril 1914 Planeyse Meeting:





http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/videos/Planeyse-meet-1910-1914-JCC-Diaporama-182.swf

http://www.pionnair-ge.com/spip1/



Instructor at the 1st squadron Caudron de Douai, he amuses himself to scare the swimmers on a beach of Berck. One of them, lying on a handcart, does not react to his dive full throttle. Poulet finally gets tired and returns. Three days later, his heroic intervention is recorded in the press: "The coolness of an aviator who did not hesitate to go down to the sands to warn the inhabitants saved the life of a paralytic who He was bogged down with his car without anyone thinking of helping him. "
He was incorporated at the beginning of the war into a reconnaissance squadron and then became a test pilot at Caudron for whom he tried 5400 aircraft of 12 kinds.

We find again its trace in the local press in 1916.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6458896/f1.item.r=poulet.zoom
On September 12 he landed on Luc's beach where his family was on vacation. He comes to greet his father, or maybe his wife and his mother-in-law ... He comes back a second time on the 24th.


p. 18 Municipal Bulletin of Luc sur Mer. Supplement Summer 2018
http://www.luc-sur-mer.fr/publication_patrimoines_lutins.html



Regards

Still no package in the mailbox.

I continue my engines.

They were covered with matte varnish and then patinated with a motor-grease and medium-gray colored juice.
The collectors are painted in Alclad copper, much too pink for my taste.
So I covered them with several layers of brown ink diluted with water until the desired color. In the photo only one has been treated with ink. They are covered with gloss varnish.



A small plate is glued to the top of each cylinder to stick on the rod of the rockers.



It remains to fix the threads of the candles.





I thought for a moment to replace them with these:

https://www.smallstuffmodels.com/p/products.html#!/1-48-Le-Rhone-9C-80-hp-Engine/p/50458532/category=13154092




Has anyone ever used them?
They look "nice".


Regards

It's confirmed, ... I'm weak.

I bought two "Smallstuffmodels" engines for my plane.



They are like on the pictures of their site.




There are three tiny pieces per cylinder to stick (Spark plug, rockers, and rocker arm support):





There is no trace of molding, so nothing to trim.
All the parts are put in place without difficulties, it is just necessary to remove them from their support. You do not even need a blade for the smaller ones.

I decided to fine-tune the trailing edge of the upper wing by scratching the intrados on the scalpel blade.

Alclad Alu without undercoat + diluted black ink + diluted brown ink and matte varnish






I will finish the patina once all the cylinders in place.

Finally I painted everything in Alu Prince Auguste. I get the same result and I find it easier to apply. It is less clear in real life.




Payne gray oil patina and motor grease (Abteilung).

... and I lost only a tiny piece while painting!

Regards

October 1919 'Étienne Poulet and Jean Benoist try their plane in front of Gaumont and Pathé's camera:
The aircraft is not yet equipped with replacement propellers, engine nacelle advertisements or the name Chicken on the upper wing.




https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVAFBAU4T2I1KM20VUBEEO44AP4-FRENCH-AVIATOR-POULET-LEAVES-PARIS-FOR-MELBOURNE/query/Etienne+Poulet

Thank you!

The intake manifold is painted in copper alclad. Two types of tubules are available. Those on the left are covered with a little brown ink so that they are less pink ...



All parts are glued.





The rocker rods attach themselves to the top of the cylinders by "clipping" them into a tiny U-shaped piece (like the real engine). It must still stick but the accuracy is formidable.



Everything is small but everything is very well designed and everything is easily fixed without sanding or adjustment.

To try absolutely

Regards

The biggest air trip: Paris-Melbourne:




The Mirror 19 October 19

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6566258t/f6.item.zoom

The idea of ​​the Paris Australia raid goes to Jules Vedrine, Etienne Poulet's "comrade", who asked him to accompany him.
At the accidental death of Jules Vedrine (April 1919) he took over the project on his own and prepared the itinerary. He will take with him the mechanic Jean Benoist who accompanies him for several years and who was already present in 1914 during his record flight of 16h30min.
The raid is undertaken to benefit the widows of Jules Vedrine and his five children.

La vie aérienne illustrée. 1919/10/23.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64797751/f14.image.r=Benoist%20Rangoon

The plane he will use will be a Caudron G-4 bought by him and modified for the occasion. It "takes off quickly, lands slowly and has all the security guarantees." The plane is slow and not very powerful but E. Poulet knows it very well.

-Characteristics of G4 Poulet and Benoist, described in L’année aéronautique 1921. Pages following the steps, mileage etc.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6553380s


He gets no support from the French army or "administration". On the other hand, "Poulet received from the English government the insurance
that all the aerodromes of Mesopotamia, India and Siam would grant him all their assistance and provide him with all the necessary fuel.
He gets the help of the industrialist Paul Plouvier, and Jean Lhermit (journalist) both friends of Vedrine. Mr. Plouvier will be the guardian of the five orphaned children ( Le Figaro, No. 32, February 1, 1924, p.1).


L'Hermit giving the latest advice to Poulet [press photography] / Agence Meurisse

From the 14th of July to the end of September, he prepared himself for the raid by making, in stages of 500 to 800 kilometers, a total course of 20,000 kilometers.

In the l' Ouest Eclair of July 28, 1919 No. 7259, his arrival at St Malo is announced on the 01 and 02 August. He will give baptisms of the air for the benefit of the widow and children of Jules Vedrine.
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6458896/f1.item%20.r%20=%20poulet.zoom







Photos extracted from the archives of "« Aéroplanes »". After analyzing the exhumed plates from their archives (now deposited in the Departmental Archives), the plates, as indicated on the box, come from St Malo / Paramé.
Bulletin No. 42 Airplanes. http://lesaeroplanes.free.fr/index.htm

Hello!


I started to paint the interior of the cabin. The ejection pellets are to be removed conscientiously because they are very visible. I partially removed the support of the radio right side.
Étienne Poulet had abandoned TSF too heavy in favor of pigeons.



The frames will be clearer.

The plane carried, among other things, crates, a rifle (visible in the photo), pigeons, 5litres of water, some food and a spare wheel:




I thought the wheel was stowed as in the picture. So I remove the support of the passenger seat thinking that by remaking finer plastic it could return without exceeding the cockpit. Alas ... she still exceeds that much. I should have measured better before cutting.



The wheel must be stored in the cockpit but elsewhere ...

So I redid the support by modifying it a bit so that it looks a little more like the one visible at the Smithsonian.
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/caudron-g-4









In the two ramps on each side of the passenger seat there are pilot control rods passing. Difficult to delete them.


The passenger chair in photoetched. Hard enough to get in shape and stick properly.



The pilot's chair, redone by modifying the original with greenstuff and plastic.



Regards

As I am stuck, I think about a diorama. I will definitely want to put J. Benoist's little boy there.

Maybe the three characters (and maybe the photographer who already exists at 1/48):



Or simpler, like the father who shows the flags to his son on the plane.



I started a figurine, just the head.

It's not alike but I will not get to better I think. I have him aged a lot ...





Regards

It's going slowly.



Regards

With the wool sweater that stings. Still the right arm to knit:



Regards

The head of the son:






Regards.

Thank you !

Benoist and his son are finished:


The son's head is strange ... but fortunately very small.
My first head for the son was too big. I have done it several times but I can not do better.





Regards.

Amazing work Louis. Especially on the figures.
Looking forward to seeing the finished build.

Thank you!

I have redone the son's head again. This time I do not touch it anymore:




Regards

Hello,


M. Poulet:












Next one, the photographer.

Regards

Finished (almost)!

The delivery was long and painful.



The pieces of the camera are not glued, which is why it is not right. The straps are two-part Tamiya putty spread on "roll" and cut into strips with the razor blade.


Photo familly :









Thank you for your nice words.

Regards.

Amazing work and such an interesting back story, Louis!