Always amazed how such aircraft ever left the ground with such a lack of aerodynamics. Early aviation in France was quite advanced for the time and this led to the development of many interesting engine designs, some of which later found the way into the automobile.
Marcel Hanriot can be seen above posing for a picture in a 1911 Hanriot Militaire Triplace Type VIII which utilized a very interesting Clerget engine. The aircraft was built by the Aeroplanes Hanriot et Cie, run by his father Rene Hanriot, who was also an early automobile racer.
The occasion was a French military competition held at Reims in 1911, which was organized by the Army to learn more about the aircraft available at the time and to also test them in competition. Hanriot’s craft was passed over at the trials because the fuselage was very slender and open which left the crew unprotected
