Voisin V

The Voisin V was a French pusher bomber of the First World War, built as a development of the Voisin III. The III's payload was limited by its 120 hp Salmson engine, so an interim version took a 150 hp Salmson P9, and the airframe was then strengthened, the nacelle streamlined, the wing chord increased and the engine raised on an angled platform, which is why the company called it the LAS, the S standing for raised. The first came into operational use in 1915 and it soon replaced the III on the production lines, yet crews held these 150 hp Voisins in low regard because the payload was only marginally better and the top speed only 13 km/h higher. About 350 were built, and they served alongside the IIIs in front-line escadrilles into 1916 and were flown by France, Russia and, singly, Argentina and Switzerland. One was converted in 1916 to a twin-engine layout with a second Salmson in the nose, but that experiment went no further.