Page 23 - The Kellner Affair Sample Pages

CHAPTER 8: THE END Of ALL THINGS
The 1932 KB-23, one of Louis Béchereau’s earliest designs for Kellner-Béchereau, photographed in the Kellner complex. Note the wood piled for coachbuilding. (Archives François Vanaret)
Once again, a great variety of designs owed from Louis Béchereau’s gifted mind, although not all were successful. The 1932 KB-23, a low-wing two-seat touring monoplane, tted with a 95 CV Salmson engine which gave it a top speed of 164 km/m, high altitude of 7,950 meters, range 300 kilometers. It was followed in 1933 by the ill-fated KB-28, a monoplane racer for the Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe, where it was entered as no. 5. It was powered by an inverted 420 hp 8-liter Delage V-12 engine, developed speci cally for the design. Optically, the KB-28 was a direct descendant of the Salmson-Béchereau SB-3, and featured a highly advanced aerodynamic construction with a very light pre-formed monocoque aluminum fuselage, leaving only the tail surfaces in wood.
The Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe was to take place on May 28, 1933, and qualifying events for the race took place two weeks before on May 12 and 14. On the initial trial ight on May 12, the pilot Capitaine Maurice Vernhol felt that the propeller was poorly adapted, as it braked the engine and speed was impeded. The propeller setting was changed, and on May 14 on full throttle at 4,800 rpm, an overstressed hose ruptured between the engine and the radiator, cloaking the cockpit in an impenetrable cloud of steam. Flying blind, Vernhol attempted to land on the eld at Ville Sauvage where the testing took place. The landing gear buckled and the KB-28 crashed and ipped. Miraculously, Vernhol was only slightly injured and walked away from the crash.
Not one to let a small setback turn into real one, Louis Béchereau continued to create fast ghter planes, as seen in his 1934 Delage-
The KB-28 low-wing monoplane racer for the 1933 Coupe Deutsch de la Meurthe under construction. (Daniel Cabart)
Putting the nal touches to the KB-28 before its maiden ight on May 12, 1933. Note the aps visible on the left-side wing. (Archives François Vanaret)
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