Coandă-1910

Lore & Background

Henri Coandă designed the Coandă-1910 as a sesquiplane aircraft with a novel powerplant: a 50 hp Clerget piston engine driving a multi-bladed centrifugal blower that exhausted into a duct, called the "turbo-propulseur." The aircraft was exhibited at the Second International Aeronautical Exhibition in Paris in October 1910, where it was noted as the only exhibit without a propeller. It was reportedly sold to Charles Weymann in October 1910, but was not displayed afterward and fell from public awareness.

Decades later, after the practical demonstration of motorjets and turbojets, Coandă began telling conflicting stories that his turbo-propulseur was the first motorjet engine with fuel combustion in the airstream, and that he made a single brief flight in December 1910, crashing just after takeoff. Two aviation historians countered that there was no proof of combustion in the airstream or that the aircraft ever flew. In 1965, Coandă brought forward drawings to support his claims, but these were shown to be reworked and differing substantially from the originals.

Reader's Guide

The Coandă-1910 is significant as an early experiment in ducted-fan propulsion, but its legacy is clouded by later disputed claims. The aircraft was a sesquiplane with cantilevered wings and a cruciform empennage, but its most remarkable feature was the turbo-propulseur, which used a piston engine to drive a compressor that expelled air rearward. Contemporary aviation reporters doubted the engine could provide sufficient thrust, noting the intake area seemed too small and the power required too high. Coandă's later assertions that the engine involved fuel combustion in the airstream and that the aircraft flew were dismissed by historians, who described the design as producing a weak stream of "plain air." In 2010, based on the notion that Coandă invented the first jet, Romania celebrated the centennial of the jet aircraft, issuing a special coin and stamp and beginning construction of a working replica. The European Parliament held an exhibition commemorating the building and testing of the Coandă-1910. The aircraft remains a subject of historical debate rather than a proven milestone in jet propulsion.

Did You Know?

• The Coandă-1910 was the only exhibit without a propeller at the Second International Aeronautical Exhibition in Paris in October 1910.
• The aircraft's engine, called the turbo-propulseur, used a 50 hp Clerget piston engine to drive a multi-bladed centrifugal blower.
• Coandă claimed to have made a single brief flight in December 1910, crashing just after takeoff, but aviation historians found no proof of flight.
• In 1965, Coandă brought forward drawings to prove his claims of combustion ducting, but they were shown to be reworked from the originals.